The Freedom Foundation has now spoken with more than 75,000 public employees across California. With more than two dozen canvassers working across the state, the free-market think tank combines incredible reach with the ability to do what no other organization like it can.
With canvassers deployed in Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County, the Freedom Foundation can speak with one voice to hundreds of public employees daily.
While we’ve seen great results from our outreach campaigns, it’s hasn’t been a walk in the park. Our canvassers have dealt with racial slurs, intimidation, harassment, physical threats of violence and a generally hostile atmosphere from union strong-arms.
But if unions are universally hostile to our canvasser’s activities, the workers they represent couldn’t be happier to hear from us. The vast majority of conversations we have with public employees end with them taking a flyer informing them of their constitutional rights.
According to our latest numbers, we’ve assisted more than 20,000 government workers exercise their right to cease their financial obligation to their union since the U.S Supreme Court issued its ruling 16 months ago Janus v. AFSCME, which affirmed unconstitutionality of mandatory union dues or fees for public employees.
There’s no shortage of reasons why a person may want to opt-out either. A few common answers we get are:
- the union charges too much and doesn’t do anything for workers, like what we’ve heard from more than 100 lifeguards who recently came to us for help opting out;
- the union spends money on politics that directly contradict the worker’s personal beliefs;
- dislike and/or mistrust of the union’s current leadership or parent union; and,
- dues increases or otherwise charging too much money.
While these are all good reasons to cease your dues payment to your union, ultimately the reason doesn’t matter.
What matters is that public employees have the right to cease paying their union dues, for any reason, at any time, and that the Freedom Foundation will always stand behind their right to exercise that right.
