Canvassing — more specifically, going door to door to inform public employees of their right to decline union membership and dues — is an important tool the Freedom Foundation uses to achieve its mission.

We recruit and hire candidates who demonstrate the charisma and resilience needed to speak in person with unionized workers. As you might guess, not all their conversations are pleasant. 

Jeffery Mac, who goes by Mac, is the newest member of the California canvassing team and is based out of Southern California. Being experienced from a wide range of political campaigns and equipped with a degree in political science, Mac has proven to be a great canvasser.

During one such experience recently, Mac knocked on the door of an SEIU 1000 shop steward. Despite — or perhaps because — members of that particular union are opting out in huge numbers, Mac’s visit wasn’t exactly welcome.

But he persisted, providing information of his rights, how the worker could save money on dues and reduce political spending from corporation-like unions.

Mac was met with much resistance. He was berated and told by the steward that dues never go toward politics or political spending. He insisted, with sincere conviction, that his dues were only used for representation. 

Whether by his own his own ignorance, or by the confusion union leaders rely on, this steward was obviously in the wrong.

SEIU 1000 even describes on its web page, under “Why Politics Matter,” how it lobbies the California State Legislature and governor on behalf of its unapologetically socialist political agenda.

In fact, unions are some of the biggest lobbyists in California — a state that boasts the largest economy in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world. Union special interests hold enormous influence over the state and have been using that power to advance ideas that very often have little or any connection with higher wages, better benefits and working conditions — you know, the sorts of things workers assume their dues dollars are being spent on.

As an organization dedicated to “battering the entrenched power of left-wing union bosses,” the Freedom Foundation is in the business of dispelling myths and equipping workers to make an informed choice about union representation — and then helping them act on it.