Posts tagged opt-out
Back-to-Back Opt-Out Milestones Suggest Record Year in New York
September 17, 2024 // Last year, the Freedom Foundation helped a record 1,351 New Yorkers take control of their paychecks by saying “no more” to government unions that don’t represent them. In 2024, we’ve already assisted with 1,025 opt-outs — and it’s only September! With nearly 76% of last year’s total and four months to go, the Freedom Foundation is expected to surpass 1,500 opt-outs in New York by year’s end. July 2024 marked New York’s best month ever for opt-outs, only to be outdone by August. These back-to-back record months prove that now, more than ever before, public employees are taking action to keep union dues in their own pockets instead of funding Big Labor’s ideological agendas.
Back to school, back to the union? Commentary
September 9, 2024 // Union membership is a personal decision, and for a variety of reasons, thousands of Minnesota educators across the state have said no thanks to what the union is prioritizing. Just as educators encourage their students to be independent thinkers and hold true to themselves, so too should educators be trusted by their colleagues to make decisions that are best for them and their families. The right to say “no” to union membership is just as important as the right to say “yes” to it — but educators first need to know they actually do have a choice. And it’s important that respect exists for that choice.
Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers spend a lot, but not on teachers
August 8, 2024 // The federal filings of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and its national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, reveal questionable spending, with little spent on representing teachers, millions spent on politics and deficit spending while the big boss got $500K.
Washington: Worker’s story illuminates unions’ dirty little secret
August 6, 2024 // It’s demonstrably unconstitutional to recognize the workers’ rights only when you feel like it, but so far the courts have let unions get away with it. The Freedom Foundation deals with such machinations daily, recognizing them as dirty tricks meant to discourage members from ending their dues. The organization’s mission is to navigate these obstacles and ensure workers can exercise their rights at the appropriate times. WFSE, Washington’s largest state worker union, saw its membership numbers drop precipitously last year, losing about 700 members — which equates to roughly $700,000 in lost annual revenue.
Podcast: Rich Lowry with guest Vinnie Vernuccio; How Unions Are Failing American Workers
July 31, 2024 // National Review's Rich Lowry is joined by Vinnie Vernuccio, President of the Institute for the American Worker, to discuss how unions have reduced worker freedom, the underhanded tactics unions use to gain power and stifle dissenting voices, how the government enables unions, and how Americans can use free market principles to restore workers' rights and bring about positive labor reform.
Commentary: Public employers should not collect dues for unions
June 3, 2024 // A bill passed last year in Arkansas is one that Washington state lawmakers should add to and propose, pass and send to the governor of our state. The Arkansas law prohibits school districts from deducting dues from employees' paychecks. Educators can pay a union on their own, of course. The new law also requires union member applications to contain a notice letting public workers — again, paid by taxpayers — know of their “rights to join or refrain from joining a labor organization.”
Unions must represent all covered workers, even nonmembers, Michigan Supreme Court rules
May 13, 2024 // Workers who disagree with their union’s political speech cannot be forced to subsidize that speech through dues or fees. Despite this, unions aggressively attempt to organize public sector workers, knowing that by doing so, they are choosing to represent members and nonmembers equally. By upholding a union’s duty of fair representation, the Michigan Supreme Court has ensured that these protections continue, and cut short union efforts to strongarm employees into membership.
OHIO: STATE SEES 68 PERCENT BUMP IN OPT-OUTS
April 29, 2024 // The spike in opt-outs in March was led by Ohio Association of Public School Employees, Ohio Civil Service Employees Association and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 8 members. All three of these unions saw more than 20 members choose to halt their dues deductions. The bump from 2023 was due entirely to the hard work of the Ohio’s outreach team, which sent out thousands of pieces of mail and emails to union members’ homes and inboxes.
OPINION: L.A. Teacher’s Fight With Union Appealed To Supreme Court
April 23, 2024 // Laird refused to dismiss his lawsuit, and with good reason. Because his case is about more than the return of his money. In fact, Laird is donating the entire amount he received from UTLA to a nonprofit group that helps disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles area. When judges at both the lower court level and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the union, the Freedom Foundation filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. Glenn Laird’s case is about a judicial acknowledgment and vindication of his First Amendment rights by a federal judge. As long as unions can cut checks using their members’ dues dollars to make lawsuits disappear, judges will never have the opportunity to rule on the actual constitutional issues, rendering the First Amendment and Janus decision meaningless. “Hopefully the Supreme Court will find my case worthy of making a ruling,” concluded Laird. “Janus set the stage, but now we need to build on that precedent so unions and lower court judges don’t continue to ignore the Supremes.”
UNION PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES TO FREEDOM FOUNDATION CLIENT
April 23, 2024 // The Washington State Supreme Court, in Allen v. Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, made clear that the right to fair representation is not dependent on a worker’s membership status. Nor is it lawful for an exclusive bargaining representative to “restrain or coerce an employee” in the exercise of their right to not join a union.” “I needed something I would be able point to the next time I need representation,” Fix said. “This letter gives me security and lets others know the union can’t discriminate against them.” The irony is that Fix isn’t anti-union per se, and had even negotiated on behalf of WFSE in the past. Fix went out of his way to aid the union in its collective bargaining functions and was mistreated just because he exercised his First Amendment right to opt out. Mike Yestramski,