Email campaigns are an integral component of any outreach strategy. They’re simple, yet extremely cost-effective.
At the Freedom Foundation, we strive to use all the tools at our disposal to inform and empower public-sector workers that their First Amendment right to opt out of union membership and dues was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME.
Recently we’ve had the opportunity to really unlock the full power of email.
One especially effective technique we employ is to tie our email campaigns into our monthly holiday-themed mailings. Delivering more personalized emails has been a terrific way to capitalize on workers’ disenchantment with their union. Two unions in particular — the California Faculty Association, which represents Cal State University professors, lecturers and librarians, and SEIU 1000, which represents state workers in California — are prime examples.
Both unions recently negotiated new contract agreements that fell short of the dues-paying members’ expectations, all the while continuing to spend millions of their dues dollars making political contributions to the governor and a wide variety of liberal causes having nothing to do with salary, benefits or working conditions.
Not surprisingly, members voted with their feet and decided to opt out of the union since they no longer felt it was representing their best interest.
Recognizing this organic momentum, we took to the web to inform and empower these workers. Their feelings of disillusionment were met with a simple yet compelling argument against financially supporting an entity that no longer cares what they think — assuming it ever did.
Consequently, they were able to really understand and exercise their right to opt out all the while telling the union to shape up.
Our email campaigns are quick, cost-effective and a fantastic way to reach millions of public-sector employees across the country. While they cannot exist in a vacuum, they prove to be an excellent tool to engage and put a finger on the pulse of the dissatisfaction workers have with their union and most importantly empower them to exercise their right to opt out.
