For the first time, the TaxPayers’ Alliance is able to reveal the full extent of taxpayer subsidised trade union activity in Northern Ireland. The subsidy considered here takes the form of the socalled "facility time" in which public sector employees undertake trade union work in place of their regular duties.
Public bodies in Northern Ireland collect information about trade union activity in a poor and inconsistent manner, with many having no record of the amount of time their staff spend on trade union duties. Any estimate of total cost in this report is therefore likely to be a significant underestimate.