In recent months, virtually every state in which the Freedom Foundation operates has been breaking opt-out records set just the month before. But in August, the organization’s California outreach team established a new benchmark for the most public employees leaving their union in any month, in any state, in Freedom Foundation history.

For the month, the Freedom Foundation was able to help more than 2,000 California government union members opt out of their membership and dues, allowing them to put the money to much better use.  

The number shatters California’s previous record by more than 600 opt-outs.

What’s going on? Several things. First and foremost is the consistent monthly mail and email campaigns sent directly to employees.

Paired with ingenious mailers that developed by the outreach team, these campaigns increase the level of engagement from employees to get them to simply open the mail and read about their constitutional rights.

Another factor is an increasing audience of who to reach out to. In California, there are an estimated 1.5 million unionized public employees able to opt out of paying union dues. This year alone the Freedom Foundation has successfully reached more than 160,000.

One other important factor is the economy. With inflation and the cost-of-living skyrocketing, especially in California, public-sector employees are looking for any way to save for their necessities. Under the First Amendment, they have the right to choose for themselves to pay union dues or not.

But giving credit where credit’s due, no one has done more to send members scurrying for the exits than the unions themselves. Workers are fed up with paying dues to a union with the expectation it will be used to advocate for better wages and working conditions, only to find the money used to support a laundry list of radical leftist candidates and causes.

And they’re voting with their feet. In record numbers.