Newest SEIU 503 Federal Report Confirms Membership Still in Decline

Newest SEIU 503 Federal Report Confirms Membership Still in Decline

Newest SEIU 503 Federal Report Confirms Membership Still in Decline

The bad news just keeps coming for SEIU 503 — and the leftist politicians it exists to support with someone else’s money.

Oregon’s largest government employee union had been on a decades-long winning streak prior to June 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in Janus v. AFSCME that mandatory union membership and/or agency fees in the public sector are a violation of the workers’ Constitutional rights.

Knowing the union had no intention of notifying its members of this landmark decision, the Freedom Foundation developed and distributed mail, emails, texts and other materials to SEIU 503 members all over Oregon to inform them of their rights.

And it worked.

SEIU 503’ 2017 LM-2 report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor claimed the union had 58,384 members/fee-payers. However, by 2018 — the year Janus was decided — that number had already been whittled down to 45,741.

And with fewer paychecks to be plundered came a major reduction in the amount of dues money the union was able to spend influencing Oregon politics.

By the end of 2019, in fact, the Freedom Foundation’s Opt-Out Campaign cut SEIU 503’s political spending by more than 60 percent.

This was a victory for the Freedom Foundation —  and for the people of Oregon, who now won’t have to fund political causes they don’t agree with.

And the trend has only continued. According to the union’s newest report, membership declined yet again in 2020 – for the third year in a row since Janus – meaning that, in total, SEIU 503 has lost at least 15,284 members/fee payers since the decision, resulting in a $3.6 million reduction in dues revenue and a $3 million drop in spending on political and lobbying activities.

More importantly, however, thousands of free Americans were able to keep more of the money they had earned, rather than watching as it was confiscated by an organization that handed it over to candidates and causes they didn’t support.

And thanks to our steadfast supporters, that work will continue.

Oregon Policy Analyst
Joshua Ebert is from Vancouver but moved to attend Corban University and graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. He is a policy analyst for the Freedom Foundation and when he isn’t working, he enjoys being with friends and family as well as learning new skills. Some of his favorite things include eating food, working out, and relaxing.