Labor Unions & Bargaining Units

In the federal government, public-sector unions represent eligible employees in negotiations with agencies over working conditions like schedules, safety, and performance procedures. Not all federal employees are eligible to be included in a bargaining unit—supervisors, managers, and certain policy or national security roles are excluded by law. As a result, union representation in the federal workforce varies by agency and occupation.

Federal workforce by bargaining unit status

Agencies governed by the Federal Service Labor‑Management Relations Statute are required to provide OPM with detailed information on the costs of collective bargaining, as well as current active collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Taxpayer expenditures for collective bargaining include compensation for employees on official time spent negotiating CBAs, processing grievances, conducting mediation and arbitration, as well as costs for arbitral fees, travel, lodging, technology, office space, and more — with 79.6% of total costs attributable to personnel compensation. Specific agreements reached between agencies and Federal sector unions are available on OPM’s Collective Bargaining Agreements page.

To reinforce the importance of transparency in these expenditures, OPM leadership has highlighted this issue publicly. In the Director’s recent blog post, “Show Me the Money,” Director Kupor emphasizes the scale of taxpayer-funded bargaining costs and the need for agencies to ensure these resources are used effectively and responsibly.

While the number of bargaining unit employees grew modestly over the past five years, the hours labor representatives spent on union activities — and their cost to taxpayers — rose at a much faster pace. From FY 2019 to FY 2024, per-employee TFUT usage climbed from 1.96 to 2.35 hours, and related compensation costs increased 53.8%, reaching $207.5 million in FY 2024.