Samuel ColemanMillions of taxpayer dollars nationwide are spent paying union officials to work to accomplish the union’s agenda even when it harms the public interest.
This kind of union activity on the public dime got personal when Teamsters 1932 President Kathleen Brennan, took steps to fight against the Freedom Foundation.
In a document acquired as part of a Freedom Foundation information request, San Bernardino County provided email and work products Brennan prepared and sent from her county work account. In this document, she described the need for several people to form a committee to “fight” the Freedom Foundation’s efforts to educate members about their right to opt out of union membership.
See the document here.
Brennan is the President of Teamsters local 1932, and she is an employee of the Information Technology Department with San Bernardino County. While we certainly expect union bosses who receive millions in public employees’ wages to resist our efforts to inform members, taxpayers should not be compelled to fund the union’s war against the Freedom Foundation.
And the taxpayers should not according to the San Bernardino County employee handbook . . .
– “Rule 1, Section 7 – Use of Public Property – Officials and employees are prohibited from using County-owned equipment, materials, or property for personal benefit or profit unless specifically authorized by the Board of Supervisors as an element of compensation.”
In this case, County-owned equipment may include email services and computers. The email was also sent at 2:10 PM on a Wednesday, right in the middle of an average work day.
Rule 10 section 2
– “Cause for Suspension, Demotion, Reduction in Salary Step and Dismissal – Conducting personal business or work on County time”.
This is one of several steps Teamsters local 1932 in San Bernardino County takes to oppose our efforts to inform workers.
Brennnan denied the existence of the anti-Freedom Foundation committee during a KQED interview, but the energy to develop action steps and a possible “committee” to advance the private financial interests of a union is a violation of taxpayers’ trust.
Public workers deserve the ability to make an informed choice when deciding if union membership is worth their money. Freedom Foundation will continue to work to make sure they are informed, but we shouldn’t have to face tax-funded campaigns to silence our efforts.