Freedom Foundation publishes and distributes guide to Janus ruling

Freedom Foundation publishes and distributes guide to Janus ruling

Anticipating the heads of public agencies in Oregon would respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Janus ruling by, first, denying they’re affected by it and, second, feigning ignorance about how it works, the Freedom Foundation has preemptively invalidated both excuses by producing a publication that explains in unequivocal terms exactly what their obligations are under the law.

The publication, titled “A Workplace Guide to Janus v. AFSCME, was mailed on Sept. 5 to more than 400 city, state, school and county human resources directors, as well as numerous elected officials.

The guide ensures government agencies across the state can’t make the claim they never received clear guidance when they don’t comply with the ruling’s standards

The Janus ruling makes clear the agencies can no longer deduct union dues from public-sector employees who haven’t knowingly authorized doing so. Nor can non-union employees be compelled to pay so-called “agency fees” in lieu of dues.

Per Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in Janus, workers paying union dues or agency fees, by definition, are waiving their First Amendment rights not to. And such a waiver cannot simply be presumed.

Not only does the Freedom Foundation’s Janus guide serve as a tool to summarize and interpret the court’s decision, it also provides a detailed analysis explaining its scope.

This includes a discussion of how public employers across the state are to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision to ensure their employee’s constitutional rights are protected.

The guide serves as a resource to explain the new “opt-in” system, which means public employees must now sign new union membership cards before dues can be deducted from their paychecks.

Importantly, the ruling makes clear that workers must “knowingly” authorize their dues deduction. And since none could have known they had a right not to pay dues before that right was first articulated in Janus, membership cards signed prior to the ruling are invalid.

The guide warns human resources personnel that dues cannot be deducted unless the deduction was authorized by the employee after the Janus ruling was issued on June 27.

“A Workplace Guide to Janus v. AFSCME”serves as a reminder to public-sector agencies and government unions that the Freedom Foundation stands ready to use legal resources when necessary to establish that the Janus decision is fully and correctly implemented in the state of Oregon.

Chief Executive Officer
Aaron Withe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation. Aaron began his career at the Freedom Foundation in 2015, working in the outreach department. He devised a full-scale outreach campaign that included having a team of door-to-door canvassers contact all union members throughout Oregon and inform them of their rights to leave their union. After various promotions the Freedom Foundation’s Board of Directors appointed Aaron as the CEO in 2021. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron is the author of the book Freedom is the Foundation: How we are defeating progressive tyranny by taking on the government unions. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances on Fox News, Fox Business, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows, including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson, and in print media outlets across the country, including the Wall Street Journal, the Hill, and the Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife Aubree and their daughter Amelia, as well as with their extended family and friends. He is active of his church and enjoys relaxing at several Pacific North West’s microbreweries. As an immigrant-turned-U.S. citizen, Aaron recognizes America as the freest and most prosperous country in the world. However, he also recognizes the very real threat posed by the government unions attacking the foundations of the American dream. This is what fuels Aaron as he now leads the Freedom Foundation’s national campaign to free every public employee in America from union bondage. Aaron has been a featured speaker for the Freedom Foundation at a multitude of events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2019. He was the proud recipient of the Oregon Taxpayer Association’s 2019 Thomas Jefferson Award. He was formerly on the Washington & Oregon Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. And he is a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) Leadership Network. Aaron has often shared the Freedom Foundation’s message on TV, including appearances Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, and The Huckabee Show on TBN. He has been featured on several national and local radio shows including Sean Hannity and Lars Larson and in print media outlets across the country including the Wall Street Journal and Daily Wire. He is a native of Birmingham, England, and is a graduate and former basketball player at Corban University in Oregon. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, staying active in many different sports and at the gym, he is active in his church and enjoys relaxing at several of the Pacific North West’s microbreweries.