SEIU 503 refuses to honor opt-out requests

SEIU 503 refuses to honor opt-out requests

SEIU 503 refuses to honor opt-out requests

The Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and SEIU 503 alleging the union – with the governor’s blessing – has refused to honor numerous care providers’ constitutionally protected requests to opt out.

The suit, Entwistle v. Brown includes 14 care providers represented by SEIU 503 who’ve submitted forms to the union requesting it stop deducting dues and fees from the paychecks they receive for looking after a disabled loved one.

The lead plaintiff, Ms. Entwistle, has made the same request over 40 times – to no avail.

Every potential care provider in Oregon is required to attend an orientation session covering health and safety, payroll etc. These sessions also, however, set aside 20 minutes during which an SEIU 503 representative can make a pitch for union membership.

Although union dues and fees were made optional by a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, examples abound of union operatives lying and using intimidation tactics during these mandatory indoctrinations to persuade attendees to sign membership cards.

These cards include highly deceptive language, stating:

“This authorization is irrevocable for a period of one year from the date of execution and from year to year thereafter unless not less than thirty (30) and not more than forty-five (45) days prior to the end of any annual period…”

Translation: Any care provider who signs a union membership card agrees to pay union dues for a minimum of a year with no option to cease these dues from being deducted.

The Freedom Foundation has been sending in opt-out forms to the union every two weeks on the providers’ behalf to ensure their “opt-out window” gets hit. We even encouraged providers to call the union to find out when their dates to opt out were.

The response from the union? Crickets.

The union to date has failed to recognize more than 900 providers’ requests to resign their union membership, with more doing so every two weeks.

Freedom Foundation Oregon Director Aaron Withe noted, “Like a twisted version of Robin Hood, SEIU 503 steals money from people who just want to provide care for others and uses it to pay themselves lucrative salaries.

“We work out that they’re taking more than $378,000 a year from people who no longer want to be in the union,” he said. “In most places this is considered stealing and is a criminal offense. In SEIU’s line of work, it’s just another day at the office.”

Unlike the union, the Freedom Foundation is representing these workers and taking the issue to court.

The basis of the claims is simple: People have requested to leave. Let them leave.

Chief Executive Officer
ceo@freedomfoundation.com
Aaron Withe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation. Aaron began his career at the Freedom Foundation in 2015, working in the outreach department. He devised a full-scale outreach campaign that included having a team of door-to-door canvassers contact all union members throughout Oregon and inform them of their rights to leave their union. After various promotions the Freedom Foundation’s Board of Directors appointed Aaron as the CEO in 2021. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron is the author of the book Freedom is the Foundation: How we are defeating progressive tyranny by taking on the government unions. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances on Fox News, Fox Business, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows, including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson, and in print media outlets across the country, including the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, and the Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife Aubree and their daughter Amelia, as well as with their extended family and friends. He is active of his church and enjoys relaxing at several Pacific North West’s microbreweries. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson and in print media outlets across the country including the Wall Street Journal and Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, staying active in many different sports and at the gym, he is active in his church and enjoys relaxing at several of the Pacific North West’s microbreweries.