California public employees are opting out of union membership at an unprecedented pace, and 2025 was officially a record-breaking year for the Golden State. 

With nearly 24,500 opt-outs statewide, the Freedom Foundation didn’t just surpass last year’s total. We blew past it, representing a nearly 50 percent increase in opt-outs compared to 2024.

December capped the year in historic fashion, delivering the organization’s largest opt-out month ever, with more than 2,700 public employees choosing freedom in a single month. 

That is not just growth. That’s momentum. 

Month after month, California workers are making the same discovery. They don’t have to fund a union’s political agenda to keep their jobs, pay or benefits.

The result has been a steady stream of new records, culminating in December’s milestone performance. 

Each opt-out represents more than a number. It’s a worker reclaiming his or her paycheck, voice and right to choose. 

A major driver of this success has been our ability to break through long-standing communication barriers, particularly with IHSS providers and other public employees who were previously reachable only through union-controlled channels. 

The cash cow SEIU has for so many years relied upon will dry up in the years to come as the hundreds of thousands of IHSS providers are notified of their rights. 

That digital strategy, paired with robust mail and email outreach, continues to prove the same truth.

When workers learn about U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which did away with compulsory union membership and dues for public employees, they respond.

Thousands of emails, thousands of mailers, and countless conversations later, the results speak for themselves.