Cassandra Clemans has represented family child care providers in administrative proceedings before the Department of Early Learning (DEL) for years. Her work was valuable enough that SEIU 925, the union representing Washington’s family child care providers, began contracting with her to represent union members in DEL proceedings in 2010.
After five years of service, SEIU 925 recently informed Clemans it was terminating its $20,000-per-year contract with her business, Childcare Advocates Resource and Education (CARE). The reason? Clemans dared to post a link to a Freedom Foundation article on CARE’s Facebook page explaining that family child care providers can opt out of paying union dues thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Clemans explains the turn of events in a statement posted on her website:
Dear Providers,
I was notified on Friday, January 30, 2015 that after 5 years of a SEIU/CARE Contract (Jan 2010 through December of 2014) of defending hundreds of WA State family childcare Providers in DEL licensing actions, SEIU has decided to not renew the SEIU/CARE Contract for 2015 because CARE had posted a link to the Freedom Foundation on the CARE Facebook page informing Providers that they have the right to opt out of paying SEIU dues. I was called on November 7, 2014 by Tricia Schroeder, SEIU Executive Vice President and was informed that SEIU considers themselves under “attack” by the Freedom Foundation. Since I had a contract with SEIU, it was SEIU’s opinion that I was supporting the Freedom Foundation and that if I did not pull the link, I could be jeopardizing the upcoming SEIU/CARE Contract. I made it very clear by stating that I felt it was very important to inform Providers that they do have the right to opt out of paying SEIU dues and was not going to pull the link.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last summer in its Harris v. Quinn decision that “partial public employees”—typically independent workers receiving state subsidies to provide services to benefit eligible low-income populations—could no longer be compelled to pay union dues as a condition of employment.
Family child care providers are one of four such groups affected by Harris in Washington.
In the absence of any attempt by either the state or SEIU to inform providers of their rights under Harris, the Freedom Foundation has created an informational website for providers and has sent out direct-mail pieces, emails and phone calls to providers. While only SEIU 925 knows exactly how many providers have chosen to opt out, the Freedom Foundation has fielded hundreds of phone, email and written inquiries from interested providers.
The ruling effectively puts SEIU 925 on the same footing as other businesses and professional associations that must prove their value to customers who voluntarily pay for services they believe to be worthwhile.
But instead of responding by marketing valuable services to providers, SEIU is keeping providers in the dark about their rights and scrambling to hang on to its mandatory dues scheme.
After the Freedom Foundation obtained the contact information of state-paid family child care providers, SEIU 925 sued in a failed attempt to block the use of the records to inform providers of their rights.
While SEIU can hire whom it wishes, it is unfortunate the union has chosen to retaliate against people like Clemans for simply sharing information about fellow Americans’ constitutional rights.
