Action Timeline

ACTION TIMELINE ACTION TIMELINE

Highlighting a few of the Freedom Foundation’s signature accomplishments over the past half year

Jan. 7

On Jan. 7 and 14, lawyers from the Freedom Foundation argued on behalf of two Washington care providers that by ignoring their repeated attempted to opt out of membership and dues, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 775 breached a so-called “union security agreement” it negotiated with the state. Such agreements require unions to equally represent every worker in a specified bargaining unit — even nonmembers. As counterintuitive as it sounds, union leaders believe the provisions strengthen their argument for requiring everyone to pay dues — or at least a maintenance fee — whether they choose to actively participate in union activities or not.

Jan. 7

The Freedom Foundation files a federal lawsuit suit in California on behalf of a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 501 whose repeated attempts to opt out of membership and dues the union promised to deal with “accordingly.”

Jan. 14

Freedom Foundation attorney Sydney Phillips makes back-to-back arguments on to the Washington State Division 1 Court of Appeals in a pair of separate but similar law, each concerning the organization’s to fully access the contact information of state, county and local employees. In both cases, lawyers for the state and the labor unions representing its employees tried to portray the standoff as a threat to the workers’ privacy when, in fact, their real concern is keeping the Freedom Foundation from informing them about their recently affirmed Constitutional right to decline union membership and dues deductions.

Feb. 2

The Freedom Foundation releases a report detailing how hundreds of labor unions — including numerous teachers’ unions — and related organizations received $36.7 million in federal funds through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for which they were legally ineligible.

Feb. 3

After months of confusing motions and legal wrangling, Washington state’s recently imposed capital gains tax is finally debated on its merits in the courtroom of Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber. Attorneys for the Freedom Foundation argue that this is just one more attempt to impose a progressive income tax on state residents who’ve emphatically and repeatedly rejected similar schemes for more than a century.

Feb. 8

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland holds a day-long session, during which the three-member panel hears nine consecutive cases detailing how government employee unions systematically abridge the First Amendment rights of public employees to opt out of union membership and dues affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME. In four of the cases — Wagner v. University of Washington, Ochoa v. SEIU 775, Zielinski v. SEIU 503, and Wright v. SEIU 503 — the appeal was made directly by a Freedom Foundation attorney. Three other appeals — Savas v. California Statewide Law Enforcement Agency, Quirarte v. United Domestic Workers/AFSCME Local 3930 and Polk v. Betty Yee — were argued by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation on behalf of clients represented jointly with the Freedom Foundation.

Feb. 23

The Freedom Foundation files a federal class-action lawsuit in Cincinnati, Ohio, on behalf of a city employee who terminated her membership and dues in AFSCME Council 8 last July but continues to involuntarily support the union’s activities through a mandatory confiscation of her accrued vacation time.

March 1

Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber strikes down the capital gains income tax passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2021. While not the last word on the subject, the ruling was a resoundingearly victory for the Freedom Foundation — which filed the first lawsuit challenging the tax in partnership with attorneys at Lane Powell PC in Seattle — and all who value the state constitution and want to keep Washington income-tax-free.

March 15

Freedom Foundation founder and first president Bob Williams dies in Tacoma, Wash., at age 80. Williams created the then-Evergreen Freedom Foundation in 1991

March 25

The state of Washington bypasses the Appellate Court level and takes its arguments directly to the state Supreme Court following Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber’s ruling earlier in the month striking down Washington’s new capital gains tax. The Freedom Foundation filed suit immediately after the measure’s approval, arguing it violates the Washington State Constitution and 90 years of legal precedent.

April 4

Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Maxford Nelsen is interviewed by Todd Feinberg on Hartford, Conn.’s WTIC Newstalk radio regarding how unions are influencing the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) policy regarding school re-openings during the COVID pandemic.

April 7

Ashley Varner, the Freedom Foundation’s vice president for communications and government policy, and Ohio Director Lauren Bowen appear on the syndicated “Matt Buff Show” discussing President Biden’s long list of giveaways to public-sector unions and the Freedom Foundation’s work to push back.

April 8

Rachel Wiegel, the Freedom Foundation’s California outreach coordinator, interviewed on Spokane (Wash.) radio station AM-590’s “Inland Empire Answer” program discussing the undue influence of teachers’ unions over Centers for Disease Control (CDC) policy regarding

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school re-openings during the COVID pandemic.

April 11

Ashley Varner, the Freedom Foundation’s vice president for communications and government policy, appears on an hour-long podcast with former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.).

April 13

In a joint statement, a group of prominent House Republicans express concern over the Freedom Foundation’s findings that, between March 2020 and March 2021, more than 200 labor unions and related nonprofit entities received in excess of $36 million through the SBA-administered Paycheck Protection Program loans despite being ineligible on the basis of their tax-exempt status. The lawmakers called on the SBA to investigate further.

April 15

An op-ed authored by Ashley Varner, the Freedom Foundation’s

vice president for communications and government policy, appears on the RedState.com website. Headlined, “NLRB memo just the latest in a long line of Biden sellouts to labor,” the piece details how Jennifer Abruzzo, the president’s hand-picked National Labor Relations Board counsel, had written a memo in which she asserted it is an unfair labor practice for a private-sector employer to hold a meeting at which employees are warned about the potentially negative impacts a decision to form a union might have on their workplace.

April 15

An article written by Anthony Hennen of The Center Square in Pennsylvania describes a Freedom Foundation report showing how labor unions were handed more than $36 million in COVID-relief loans they were ineligible to receive. Unions in Pennsylvania alone took in $1.2 million.

April 19

Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Maxford Nelsen appears on both the “John Solomon Reports” and the “Jim Bohannon Show” podcasts discussing his recent report detailing how labor unions were handed more than $36 million in COVID-relief loans they were ineligible to receive.

April 21

A letter to the editor written by Freedom Foundation VP for News and Information Jeff Rhodes is published by the Wall Street Journal praising the publication for its editorial critical of NLRB counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and detailing similar union abuses in Washington state.