Jason DudashLast week SEIU 503 was once again forced to attempt to justify its radical stances to the hardworking Oregonians the union represents.
Over the past few weeks, the Freedom Foundation has been educating state employees represented by SEIU 503 about their union’s role in defunding the police as part of an email campaign.
Every year, SEIU sends hundreds of thousands of dues dollars to Our Oregon, a group currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for what would be the largest violation of election law in Oregon’s history.
Our Oregon is well known for being behind most of the progressive ideas pushed in the Beaver State, primarily through ballot initiatives. However, its latest email instructed supporters directly to “defund local police,” specifically advocating for Portland Police Bureau’s budget to be cut by $50 million.
Polls show the notion of defunding the police is wildly unpopular with the vast majority of Americans, apparently including those represented by SEIU 503.
To be more precise, nearly 300 public employees represented by SEIU have resigned from their union since we informed them their dues dollars were being used to make their communities less safe.
Such a dramatic loss rightfully alarmed union leaders, who only see dollar signs leaving their pockets, and prompted them to send an email out to all SEIU members in an attempt to justify their stance.
Their email however may have done them more harm than good.
Despite their naïve attempts to defame our organization and intent, overall their justification was that it was only “one email.”
They did not deny giving nearly $3 million worth of dues money to an outside radical group. They did not deny that outside group is now fighting to defund the police. They only said, probably with deep regret, that these calls for defunding police were only from a single email.
A pretty lame excuse, you’ll no doubt agree – and one that, ironically, had the opposite of its intended effect by generating even more curiosity about the Freedom Foundation’s original message and prompting even more employees to opt out.
This is just another example from an ever-growing list of government unions being out of touch with those they supposedly represent.