Stunning union decline

By Aaron Withe
Oregon Freedom Foundation
Article originally featured in the Oregon Transformation Newsletter,

In Oregon and Washington, union membership in the public sector has been in rapid decline. This is due to the Freedom Foundation’s outreach campaign that has been educating public employees about their rights to leave their union and cease paying union dues. These rights were affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Janus v. AFSCME ruling in June 2018.

The Wall Street Journal recently wrote an article highlighting these losses in the Pacific Northwest.

Reporter Kris Meher noted, “The Oregon School Employees Association reported a loss of fees and dues from 5,523 workers, a drop of 26.6%, for the year ended May 31, according to Labor Department filings.”

Overall, the Freedom Foundation has helped more than 60,000 people leave their unions on the West Coast during just the past 18 months. What the comparison shows is that in Oregon and Washington significantly more public employees have left their unions versus the rest of the nation. That’s because when public employees actually know their rights, they opt out in droves. Our goal is to continue to expand our campaign to ensure we assist every public employee who is unaware of their rights under Janus.

Opt-Out Success

As the Freedom Foundation informs public workers of their right to opt-out of paying union dues, the percentage of those who choose to leave their union continues to grow.

Chart and information courtesy of the Freedom Foundation

The number of members leaving their union is massive and the results are stunning because we do only one thing and we do it well: fight unions head-on, at every level.

Oregon Transformation Newsletter,