Ohio’s unions keep up the pressure as their control slips away

Ohio’s unions keep up the pressure as their control slips away

Ohio’s unions keep up the pressure as their control slips away

The Freedom Foundation in Ohio has not relented from its goal of helping public employees understand their rights. And now public servants are responding to a simple truth — their hard-earned money doesn’t have to line the pockets of union bosses or bankroll their radical political aspirations and strategies.

Longstanding guarantees of wealth and power among union elites are being challenged, and organized labor’s power brokers aren’t taking it well.

Websites like “We are Ohio” provide a glance into their level of desperation and penchant for fear tactics. Their insecurities are bubbling to the surface, resulting in reprehensible personal attacks on Ohio’s Freedom Foundation staffers.

Why go to these lengths? Why leave people in ignorance through deceit?

Because the truth hurts.

And now it’s hurting Ohio’s union membership rosters and bank accounts.

Recent payroll data provided by the Department of Administrative Services show the impact of the Freedom Foundation’s truth-telling mission. After another year of robust outreach, government workers are leaving their union in unprecedented numbers.  

The Ohio Civil Service Association, representing state employees, has experienced its sharpest membership decline since the Freedom Foundation arrived in Ohio committed to telling government employees facts they otherwise would never hear.

The graph below is clear. The Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME made union membership and dues contributions optional — on paper. But the unions responded with every dirty trick in their arsenal to challenge every single defection.

That’s where the Freedom Foundation comes in — speaking up for government workers who want out and defending them in court when unions resist.

Government employees have made it clear they’ll no longer tolerate watching their money spent to advance campaigns that defund police, support the abortion provider Planned Parenthood, slap more restrictions on gun rights or elect radical politicians.

Ohio’s government workers don’t need or want a government union deciding how their hard-earned money is being spent.  

According to the data, the truth is setting the people of this state free.

As for these aggravated union bosses, they really should be more grateful. Such trends only mean they’re going to be taking up residence in their Florida retirement homes sooner than expected.

The Freedom Foundation in Ohio refuses to let public servants to remain in the dark. And for a refreshing change, the good guys finally seem to be winning.

Ohio Director
lbowen@freedomfoundation.com
Lauren is a lifelong Ohio resident and calls Cincinnati home. After earning a master’s degree in international politics from Wright State University in 2014, she led an innovative, first of its kind, digital government accountability and transparency project, called the Ohio Checkbook. Through that leadership experience Lauren developed a fierce determination to undermine government corruption. She has since joined the Freedom Foundation as State Director to fight union tyranny and oppression. In her spare time Lauren enjoys collecting early American antiques and trying new restaurants with her husband.