It’ll take more than pizza this time

Samuel Han
July 18, 2018

The messaging is critical, but so are the messengers. As soon as the Supreme Court decided on Janus v. AFSCME, the unions started putting their own spin on the case (if there could be any other) and added veiled threats to deter any union members from exercising their First Amendment rights.

Words like “cowardice” and “lost wages” were loosely thrown around in an SEIU email blast. However, it didn’t seem to deter the thousands of workers who contacted the Freedom Foundation to finally leave their union.

In California, we’ve hit the ground running. Our canvassing operation immediately focused on IHSS orientation centers and, more recently, city halls and government buildings.

Our canvassers are equipped with knowledge answer questions from municipal workers wanting to opt out of their unions. In fact, members of SEIU Local 1000, a municipal government union, is among the largest group of individuals who use our website to opt out.

We anticipated this would be the case and have been using social media, emails, and now canvassing, to help get our message across.

One of our canvassers was approached by a municipal employee who was thrilled to see we were sharing information about how to leave the union. She told us the union was throwing pizza parties as an incentive to sign the irrevocable union cards.

It’s going to take a lot more pizza and a lot more money to convince these folks they need to stay in the union.

Meanwhile, our legal team notched several important victories in the wake of the Janus ruling and has no intention of slowing down.

Our work has increased ten-fold as the word is spreading about our victory against the union. Last week, our California attorney began formally representing a union member who wants to opt out of a public safety union. This worker contacted the union after the Janus decision to exercise his First Amendment rights, but union leaders pointed to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) document that outlined the union’s policy on opt-outs.

They claim members cannot leave for another two years, or until the next bargaining discussions open. This was worse than even the 15-day opt out window clause of SEIU 2015.

The Freedom Foundation believes any type of opt-out window clause is unconstitutional, and this case can potentially set precedent across the spectrum of union cases currently being litigated as well as those that will in the future.

- California, Labor

Samuel Han

California Director

Samuel Han is the California director at the Freedom Foundation. He directly oversees the Freedom Foundation’s newest expansion into California with the goal of holding local and state governments accountable to citizens and not beholden to the interests of public-sector unions. He previously worked as the district director for a conservative Assembly member in the heart of Orange County. Sam was instrumental in leading the district outreach operation, which received high marks from the California Republican Assembly Caucus. Sam was also recognized by The Korea Times in its 44th commemorative issue as a “Future Leader in Politics” and has been quoted in several major publications regarding his views on local government, including National Public Radio, World Magazine, and the Korean Times. Sam is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in management science. He has also completed a Business Certificate Program from the Harvard Business School and was an MBA Fellow at UCLA. He and his wife reside in Fullerton, Calif., and enjoy spending time with their son and serving at their local church.