Posts tagged constitutional rights
Op-ed: It’s Time to End Government Unions’ Post-Janus Coercion
July 8, 2025 // These include, but aren’t limited to: acknowledging the workers’ right to opt out of union membership and dues, but refusing to honor their request to do so except during an arbitrary, union-determined two-week “opt-out window” of which the worker is unaware; inviting union operatives to make high-pressure, often-deceptive recruiting pitches to all newly hired public employees while denying the same privilege to organizations anxious to offer the workers an alternative point of view; refusing to open mail suspected to contain member opt-out requests; passing laws and filing lawsuits intended to prevent disclosure of government employees’ contact information — which is clearly a matter of public record — solely to keep organizations such as the Freedom Foundation from informing workers about their constitutional right to decline union participation; arguing that Janus provides no protections for union members, not even a constitutionally protected right to resign from the union; and, when all else fails, simply forging an employee’s name on a dues-authorization form.
Liberty Justice Center Sues New Jersey Union For Violating Plumber’s Constitutional Rights
August 5, 2024 // Upon learning about his rights under the Janus decision, Giangrasso sent a letter to UA Local 9 resigning his union membership and requesting an end to the dues deduction. However, the union refused, arguing that the Janus decision didn’t apply because the deductions were termed “assessments” rather than “dues.”
Oregon teachers quit union, Kansas teachers need legislative relief
December 13, 2022 // Oregon school districts added about 2,100 teachers in the last school year, but union membership in the Oregon Education Association (OEA) dropped by almost 500. Jason Dudash, Freedom Foundation Oregon Director in Oregon, says the membership decline disclosed in internal documents obtained by his organization indicates unions have overstepped their authority in the classroom. “Teachers are realizing their unions support policies that are actively harming the students and profession they love. In Oregon and across the country, thousands of teachers are telling their union, ’We’re sick of this, and we’re done with you.’ That may seem like a crisis for the unions, but it’s great news for the rest of us.
FREEDOM FOUNDATION COMMENTS ON ANTI-JANUS LEGISLATION IN CALIFORNIA
May 15, 2022 // The law stipulates that, if a government employer so much as mentions the Janus case to his or her employees, government unions can file a complaint and the employer can be hauled before the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
COLORADO WINS EXPECTS TO KEEP ITS MEMBERS IN LINE WITH LIES
May 10, 2022 // To be specific, Colorado WINS vows it will not accept opt-out forms that clearly cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME
Viewpoint: Let Oklahoma teachers control their own paychecks
April 28, 2022 // Our state can begin by solidifying some basic facts. Oklahoma teachers have First Amendment rights. They get to choose whether to join, or remain a member of, a union. And they decide for themselves whether part of their hard-earned paycheck goes to support a union.
LAWSUIT ALLEGES TEAMSTERS REFUSE TO ACCEPT PACKAGES CONTAINING MEMBERSHIP CANCELLATIONS
April 22, 2022 // But a federal lawsuit and request for a preliminary injunction filed on April 20 allege three different Washington Teamsters’ locals conspired to deny workers by the crudest of measures — brazen refusal to accept mail.
Unions oppose employee rights with false claims re: Janus
March 21, 2022 // Vincent Vernuccio, testifying in support of SB 511, said, “ensures that public employees are informed about their First Amendment right to choose whether to pay union fees and further allows them to exercise this right at any time. This right is guaranteed to them under the U.S. Constitution and recognized by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.” Vernuccio is an attorney and labor policy senior fellow with Workers for Opportunity, a national project of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
National Right to Work Foundation Legal Brief Counters Farm Union Bosses’ Case Seeking Power to Impose Union, Top Down, via Lawsuits
February 24, 2022 // “Union association must be fully voluntary, not the result of backroom dealing in lawsuits by union officials designed to force a union on workers from the top down.”