(SALEM, Ore.) – Oregon payroll data obtained by the Freedom Foundation shows that SEIU 503’s membership rate among state employees has fallen to another record low, leaving it among the lowest state union membership rates in the nation.

As of June 2021, SEIU 503 represented 23,715 state employees. Of that, 8,658 employees have elected not to be dues-paying members, spelling out a 36.5 percent non-membership rate for the union. 

“It’s refreshing that even in a state like Oregon, an increasing number of employees are seeing SEIU for what it is — a political money-laundering scheme,” said Jason Dudash, Oregon director of the Freedom Foundation. “As soon as SEIU members realize they don’t have to pay the union part of their paychecks, they leave in droves.”

The Freedom Foundation has been contacting public employees up and down the West Coast following the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, informing them that they can no longer be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment.

This campaign has led to more than 92,000 public employees leaving their unions, including more than 20,000 in Oregon. 

“Freedom Foundation’s simple message that SEIU members don’t have to continue paying for something they don’t value has led to more than one-third of the union’s membership dropping out,” concluded Dudash.

“The mass exodus from SEIU tells you everything you need to know about its leadership. SEIU’s agenda doesn’t align with the interests of its members, and it shows.”