As the Freedom Foundation crisscrosses the nation to inform every public employee about his or her right to cease union membership and dues, we often see outrageous reactions from local unions.
Colorado WINS — the union that represents Colorado state employees — went further than most.
In a post on its website, the union makes several patently false claims and suggests it will violate the law by ignoring the constitutional rights of workers who want nothing more than their freedom.
To be specific, Colorado WINS vows it will not accept opt-out forms that clearly cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME:
“We do not accept drop forms from OptOut Today. If you are interested in terminating your membership with Colorado WINS, please send an email to info@cowins.org to begin the process of leaving your state employees’ union.”
Make no mistake: Unions cannot simply choose when and how to honor the constitutional rights of American citizens.
If Colorado WINS or any other union refuses to accept a request to cease union membership for any reason, please let the Freedom Foundation know.
It does not matter whether the request is written on an official form, scribbled on a sandwich bag, or strapped to the leg of a carrier pigeon. Any written request is legal, and our lawyers are just itching to prove it in court.
But wait, there is more. While claiming they have the right to ignore public employees’ constitutional rights may be the most egregious statement made in the Colorado WINS article, it was not the only one.
In a section labeled, “Debunking Their Claims,” the union proceeded to dispute statements made by the Freedom Foundation that are 100 percent, patently true.
In other words, the union lied. Again.
These include:
- Opt Out Today Claim 1: “If I leave the union, will I still receive the same wages and benefits? Yes.”
This is a true statement, but the union claims it is not. It does this by changing the subject and arguing that union employees tend to earn higher wages than non-union workers.
Even if that were true — and it isn’t — that’s beside the point. The question is whether a current union employee will earn less if they leave the union. And they won’t. By law, the union must represent every employee in the bargaining unit — even nonmembers.
A worker cannot be financially penalized for exercising his or her right to leave the union. Period.
- Opt Out Today Claim 2: “Does opting out affect my pension? No.”
See above. Every worker in the bargaining unit earns the same pay and benefits, regardless of their union status. Colorado WINS does not even bother to explain its reasoning about this question. It just lies.
- Opt Out Today Claim 3: “Send this form end and get your money back now!”
Colorado WINS claims it will not process an opt-out form submitted from the Freedom Foundation’s OptOutToday.com website.
Oh really? If you know anyone whose opt-out request was denied for this or any other reason, have them call the Freedom Foundation.
We eat lawbreaking unions for breakfast.
