Over the past three months, Ohio’s teachers and public school employees have been bombarded with more than a 150,000 pieces of mail, email and digital ads. These impressive numbers are a result of a strategic outreach campaign focusing on the unreasonable opt-out window periods imposed by the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE).
Opt-out “windows” have been a favorite tactic of unions following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME affirming the right of public employees to decline union membership and dues. Unions responded by agreeing to release disgruntled members, but only during an arbitrary two-week time frame.
Essentially, the unions believe they have the ability to limit workers’ exercise of their First Amendment rights to a few days every year.
The Freedom Foundation’s outreach campaigns spread awareness about these absurd limitations and inform members about the correct steps to take in order to stop their payroll deductions.
At the end of our campaign, we were able to help 450 teachers and public school employees opt out of their union.
With OEA and OAPSE’s strict window, we implemented additional procedures to ensure members’ opt-out cards are received on time. We personally packed and delivered every single opt-out card we received before the start of the window and sent it to each union’s headquarters.
