Love is in the air this week at the Freedom Foundation as tens of thousands of public employees across the country received our special Valentine-themed mailers asking if they’re in a bad relationship with their unions.
Candy hearts on the back of the mailer asked if public employees can relate with different feelings that they get from their union, such as whether their union lies to them or refuses to listen to them.
If so, we suggest it may be time to break up by ceasing union dues and opting out of the union.
We’ve already heard back from many public employees who are treating themselves this Valentine’s Day and ditching their bad relationships with their unions.
But it’s not all roses and chocolates. Many unions have responded angrily to our opt-out work.
One union, CSEA in New York state, went so far as to bribe their members with $50 gift cards — paid for with their own dues’ money — to write them a love letter.
Mind you, this is the same union that recently put out a “scam alert” on the Freedom Foundation, trying to scare its members with lies to stop them from leaving the union.
Like a needy ex resorting to bribes and lies, CSEA’s tactics reek of desperation. But they won’t stop us from reaching out to its members, and it certainly won’t heal the broken hearts of these union leaders once their dues payers learn they don’t need to fund a radically leftist political agenda just to keep their pay, healthcare or other workplace benefits.
Among the many feel-good love stories we heard in response to the Valentine’s Day mailer, two stand out. One member of New York’s Public Employees Foundation (PEF) related that he decided to opt out after he was told to his face he did not matter after he’d filed a workplace grievance.
To make matters worse, when he attempted to opt out on his own, he was given the runaround by PEF and even his own payroll department. He’d nearly given up hope when he started receiving mail and email from the Freedom Foundation explaining his opt-out rights. With our help, he was finally able to leave his audacious union for good.
Another former dues-paying member of the state’s Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) was so happy to finally free herself from her dysfunctional relationship that she wanted us to know that she sleeps better at night knowing that her union dues are no longer supporting AFSCME international’s divisive political lobbying. She was so offended by how she was mistreated by CSEA over the years that she even volunteered to hand out literature to her co-workers explaining that they too could show the union the door and opt out.
The results from the postal mail and email campaign are still rolling in, and the feedback we’ve already received has been heartwarming.
When the dust settles, Neil Sedaka himself may have to re-write his classic 1960’s hit, because public employees across the country are telling their big government unions that, with our help, breaking up isn’t hard to do.
