(Columbus, OH) – On May 1, the Freedom Foundation sent Governor Mike DeWine a formal request from 462 Ohio public employees who all want out of the unions designated to represent them. Their Constitutional right to do just that without penalty was affirmed two years ago next month by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME.
Since last October, the Freedom Foundation has been assisting public employees in the state who want to opt out, and hundreds have successfully done so. However, unions like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have prevented hundreds more from exercising that right.
“It’s been two years since the Janus ruling and the public-sector unions have been grieving ever since,” said Lindsey Queen, Ohio director for the Freedom Foundation. “It’s high time they moved out of denial and into the acceptance phase.”
“Government unions do not get to pick and choose which Supreme Court rulings they comply with,” Queen said. “These public employees have said they want out of their unions. For their requests to be completely ignored is a disgrace and an injustice. We’re asking the governor to step in and right this monstrous wrong.”
The Freedom Foundation opened its Ohio office in October 2019 and has been working tirelessly ever since to help educate more than 330,000 public employees about their First Amendment right to opt out of their union.
Paid canvassers have visited more than 5,000 homes and government office buildings and sent hundreds of thousands of emails, mail, text messages and phone calls to government employees, informing them of their Constitutional right to leave their union — a message their union hopes desperately they’ll never hear.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS), which is partly responsible for directing the state’s labor relations and human resources policies, also received requests from the disgruntled workers.
State Rep. Craig Riedel (R-Defiance) added, “The Janus decision is crystal clear. No public employee should ever have his money stolen again by a union. The state of Ohio now needs to stand up and do the right thing and protect individuals. I highly suggest DAS follow the United States Supreme Court’s ruling and stop collecting these unlawful fees on behalf of the unions.”
State Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) added, “I was delighted when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Janus in favor of freedom for the worker and did away with the shackles of union dues. Frankly, this should not even be an issue any longer. Nevertheless, I’m thankful the Freedom Foundation is here in Ohio and fighting for workers’ rights.”
