A union executive flipped us off through an office window in Wilmington, Del., after we delivered information explaining workers’ constitutional rights.

In Philadelphia, another union official called us “losers” and accused us of publishing “b—s—.”

At University of California, Los Angeles, union representatives repeatedly told workers they didn’t have a constitutional right to stop paying union dues, despite the U.S. Supreme Court 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME affirming it.

These were not isolated incidents.

They were windows into how many labor leaders react when workers begin learning the truth.

For years, my team and I have traveled across the United States speaking with public employees about their constitutional rights and explaining a reality many were never properly informed about: Union dues are voluntary.

The reactions we receive from workers are often curiosity, relief and disbelief, but the reactions we receive from union officials are often something very different.

Whether we are speaking with employees represented by AFSCME, SEIU, Teamsters, AFT or NEA, the pattern is remarkably consistent. The moment workers begin asking questions about their rights, many union officials stop acting like organizations confident in voluntary support and start acting like institutions protecting a revenue stream.

Not with facts. Not with open discussion. Not with transparency.

Instead, workers and our team are often met with:

• Intimidation;
• emotional outbursts;
• personal attacks;
• misinformation; and,
• and attempts to shut conversations down immediately.

That alone should raise serious question, because organizations confident in their value do not fear informed people.

The moment workers fully understand they have a choice, unions lose something they have relied on for decades: uninformed compliance.

That changes everything.

Union officials frequently talk about “solidarity,” “worker empowerment,” and “democracy.” But those words ring hollow when employees are attacked simply for learning that financial support of a union is optional.

If union officials truly believed workers enthusiastically supported them voluntarily, there would be no reason to panic when someone hands a worker a brochure explaining constitutional rights.

There would be no reason to interrupt conversations or accuse people of “spreading misinformation” for accurately explaining the law.

And there certainly would be no reason to react with anger the moment workers begin asking informed questions.

Union officials have a built-in financial conflict of interest.

Their salaries, political influence, institutional power and organizational growth all depend on dues money continuing to flow into the organization. That financial reality fundamentally changes these interactions.

When our team speaks with workers, union officials are not viewing it as a neutral educational conversation. They often view it as a threat to the financial structure that supports the institution itself.

And when institutions feel threatened, the mask often slips. That’s why so many interactions quickly devolve into hostility instead of honest discussion.

In Wilmington, after our team delivered information regarding workers’ constitutional rights to an AFSCME office, a union executive responded by flipping us off through the office window rather than engaging in any meaningful discussion about the concerns employees routinely raise.

In Philadelphia outside AFSCME District Council 47, one executive called us “losers” and accused us of publishing lies.

But despite the hostility, there was still no willingness to sit down and have an honest adult conversation about the organization’s obvious shortcomings, manipulative practices or the growing distrust many workers openly express themselves.

At UCLA, we personally witnessed union officials on multiple occasions directly lie both to us and to employees we were actively speaking with. Workers were told we were “spreading misinformation” and that they did not have a constitutional right to discontinue dues payments, something plainly contradicted by Janus.

After hearing the same dishonest responses repeated across different states, campuses and organizations, it stops looking like isolated behavior and starts looking like institutional protocol.

That should concern everyone.

Because when the same talking points, the same deflections and the same misleading claims appear repeatedly across different unions and different states, it strongly suggests these responses are being taught internally as a strategy to maintain control through confusion and deception.

Employees notice these contradictions immediately.

A worker asks: “Wait … dues are optional?”

And instead of transparency, they’re met with anger and intimidation.

Instead of respect, they’re treated as though simply learning about their constitutional rights is somehow unacceptable.

That tells workers far more than any brochure ever could. Because if the unions’ position were genuinely strong, their representatives would welcome informed workers making voluntary decisions.

But voluntary support requires trust, honesty and transparency.

And those things become very difficult to maintain when employees begin realizing they were never fully informed of their rights in the first place.

Nearly eight years after Janus, the fact that so many public employees across America are still shocked to learn dues are optional should concern everyone.

Workers should never have to learn about constitutional rights from people standing on sidewalks outside their workplace. The organizations collecting their money should have been honest with them from the beginning.

Organizations confident in voluntary support do not fear informed workers.

But organizations dependent on confusion, pressure, and institutional inertia often do.

And after years of witnessing the same reactions from union officials across the country, one thing has become impossible to ignore:

The hostility begins the moment workers start asking informed questions.

Public employees who want to learn more about their rights or discontinue voluntary union dues payments can visit Opt Out Today! for free information and assistance.