Once again, the Freedom Foundation is in the thick of the fight for individual rights and freedom of choice in the workplace, this time confronting the Washington State Council of County and City Employees (WSCCE) Council 2 in a legal battle that could set a precedent for labor organizations across the nation.
Council 2 has been refusing to open and take action on our mail, both certified and first-class, as part of an alleged internal policy of “not accepting forms requesting to drop individuals’ dues payments from undisclosed or any third parties.”
This obstructionist policy is preventing us from carrying out our mission of assisting workers in exercising their First Amendment rights.
Remarkably, this policy is not only obstructive; it’s also fundamentally flawed because it is impossible for the union to definitively determine who actually sent the mail. Case in point, a union-represented employee, Matthew Wichert, sent a letter to the union in an envelope provided by the Freedom Foundation. The union rejected it, assuming it was sent by us, even though nothing about it violated the union’s policy.
This isn’t just about mail, though. It’s a matter of principle. It’s about the right of workers to choose for themselves whether or not to financially support a union, and it’s about our role in helping those workers exercise that choice.
In its landmark 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Constitutional right of government employees to decide whether their hard-earned money goes to support a labor organization.
Further, these government employees are fully entitled to seek assistance in making and executing that decision from the Freedom Foundation or any other third party.
As a result, we have filed a lawsuit against Council 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington seeking an injunction to stop its actions, a declaratory judgment confirming those actions are unlawful, and damages for the harm they have caused.
We’re not going to stand idly by while Council 2, the Teamsters or any other labor union attempts to thwart our mission and suppress workers’ rights. We’ve shown before we’re not afraid to go to court to protect individual freedoms, and we’re ready to do it again.
This is a critical moment in our fight for worker freedom. Now more than ever, we need your support. Your contributions are the lifeblood of our efforts. They allow us to continue our work, standing up for individual rights and freedom of choice in the workplace.
Thank you for standing with us as we face this challenge. Together, we will continue to fight for the rights and freedoms of workers across our great nation.
