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LIVINGLIBERTY A PUBLICATION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION | JANUARY 2019
SPREADING CHEER
CANVASSERS DRESSED AS SANTA VISIT GOV’T OFFICES
Electronic Service Requested
Freedom Foundation PO Box 552 Olympia, WA 98507
W
ho doesn’t welcome a visit from Santa? Certainly not public employees, who traditionally love to cavort with the version deployed by the Freedom Foundation to government office buildings in Washington, Oregon and California bearing union opt-out forms that can mean a Christmas present worth up to $1,000 a year in saved dues money. St. Nick and his helpers made their usual rounds this week in all three states, plus our newest home in Ohio, receiving a warm reception for both man and message. Who didn’t enjoy the Santa canvassing? Unions, of course. In fact, over the years they’ve been guilty of some downright Grinch-like behavior, ordering building security officers to escort the canvassers off taxpayer-funded properties because the union bosses can’t stand the thought of their members learning the truth about their rights to decline to line union pockets. In Ohio, for example, one union representative began walking up to public employees who’d just spoken with Freedom Foundation Santa canvassers and snatched the printed materials the employees were being given right out of their hands. Freedom Foundation canvassers even got the attention of Wendy Conway, president of the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Local 443.
By ASHLEY VARNER VP for COMMUNICATIONS
She sent an email to public employees “in solidarity” with WFSE members warning about a “bad Santa” appearing at worksites in Olympia and Tacoma. Betraying the authoritarian streak of its authors, the union “caution” email barks marching orders to public employees on how to respond when they see a friendly Santa outside their workplace: n Let (Santa) know you don’t wish to work for less. Be aware that if you engage in conversation they may record you and post it online. n You have the right to be removed from their contact list. If you are contacted after requesting removal, call the Member Connection Center. n If you feel unsafe, contact the authorities. Never mind that Freedom Foundation canvassers offer only friendly faces and information, or that canvassers have needed to be trained to record hostile interactions after union leaders harassed and bullied them outside public buildings and while returning to their cars. The unions’ response is laughable, but consistent. Union bosses simply cannot allow public employees to learn that they don’t have to pay into the union coffer as a job requirement because when they learn the truth, they opt out in droves. Since June 2018, the Freedom Foundation has helped nearly 65,000 public employees leave their union and stop paying dues. That’s more than $50 million every year staying in the bank accounts of those who earned it, rather than lining the pockets of union bosses and their cronies. ’Tis the season to free workers from government union tyranny.’