Oregon Media React to Freedom Foundation Lawsuit

Aaron Withe
November 28, 2018

Last week we announced our news that we had filed a federal class-action lawsuit against two of the largest unions in Oregon. Over the holidays and into this week, the press reacted to the case, and we saw no comment from the unions.

Highlights included:

Bend Bulletin: “Fair treatment for workers should be more than a slogan for Oregon’s public employee unions. When workers want to quit two of the state’s largest public-employee unions — AFSCME Local 75 and the Service Employees International Union 503 — the unions shouldn’t have schemes to compel them to pay anyway.”

Oregon Public Broadcasting: “Anti-union groups are doubling down on attempts to destabilize Oregon’s public-sector employee unions…”

Willamette Week: “This new lawsuit, like the last one, is an attempt to undercut the fundraising and political power of Oregon labor unions, long the strongest bulwark of Democratic Party politics.”

Lars Larson: “In my mind, this is nothing more than a scheme for them to try and take union dues from people who do not wish to pay union dues anymore … It’s a way for the union to extract dues from them to use on their own agenda.”

KATU News: “Before, the status quo has been that they can actually just skim union dues and not deliver a benefit.”

Liberty Headlines: “‘This is one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever witnessed from the unions and the government,’ said Aaron Withe, the Oregon director of the Freedom Foundation… ‘The union dues they’ve forcibly deducted from people who want out are meant to be designated to the working families of this state, not some special-interest group.’”

East Oregonian: “(T)his is just a money-making scheme by the unions…”

Eugene Register-Guard: “In addition to seeking a class-action designation, the plaintiffs are requesting a court order to stop the unions from their current practices as well as unspecified nominal and compensatory damages and attorney fees.”

Salem Reporter: “In the months since, thousands of workers in Oregon have asked to withdraw from the unions…”

Oregon Director Aaron Withe also held a press conference at the Capital in Salem on Wednesday, where he demanded Gov. Brown stop the state from deducting union dues from all employees that have not signed an appropriate union membership card post-Janus.

The full press conference is available online.

- Litigation, Oregon

Aaron Withe

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.