Border agency retreats on employee political activities
Spokesman says supervisor “mistakenly told employees” they had to clear volunteer political activities on their own time with higher-ups.
Customs and Border Protection employees in the Los Angeles region were incorrectly told they could not participate in political activities outside of work without getting approval from the bureau, according to an agency spokeswoman.
A CBP supervisor at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport "mistakenly told employees" they had to submit an outside employment form to the bureau in order to volunteer during off-duty time with a political campaign, said agency spokeswoman Christiana Halsey.
"We have no policy whatsoever that says employees have to file forms to do political activities. That is absurd," Halsey said.
Earlier this month, the National Employees Treasury Union sent a letter in response to the supervisor's statement, asking the bureau to clarify its policy regarding the rights of employees to participate in political activity.
"It is an intolerable infringement of employees' constitutional rights to require them to obtain prior approval before engaging in lawful, off-site political activity," NTEU President Colleen Kelley said in the letter. "Forcing employees to apply for approval-and disclose details about their intended activity to a curious supervisor or a reviewing authority-creates an impermissible chilling effect."
Halsey said the mistake occurred during a daily employee's meeting. In response, the bureau's Los Angeles director of field operations issued an internal memo last week notifying CBP employees in the region of their right to take active part in political campaigns to the extent permitted by the 1939 Hatch Act, which allows federal employees to exercise a range of political rights off duty and away from government property.
The memo lists the specific political activities employees can participate in and includes a fact sheet from the Office of Special Counsel with additional guidance, Halsey said.
"There was nothing that went out from the national level because the incident only occurred in L.A., so they took care of it in the area that it occurred," she added.
On Monday, union officials said they were satisfied that the issue had been resolved.