Group launches campaign to encourage union disaffiliation

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity has joined with like-minded groups in other states on what it describes as a $10-million campaign to "educate'' public employees how to extricate themselves from their unions.

The campaign begins with the launch of a website on Tuesday: www.mypaymysayri.com

There is also a video and a link to a copy of a union-disaffiliation letter. The website will be followed, in Rhode Island, by a mass mailing to the home addresses of about thousands of public employees.

"Despite the governor's and the unions' efforts to keep public employees in the dark, our Center and our national partner" — the Mackinac Center in Michigan —  "have already accumulated tens of thousands of email and mailing addresses of government workers. We expect to contact them in the coming weeks and ongoing for years," said the R.I. Center's CEO, Mike Stenhouse, on the eve of the launch.

And soon, he said: the website "will soon include information on the political spending of certain government unions .... [and] a page for workers to tell their story if they have unsuccessfully tried to leave their union or have received unsatisfactory responses to inquiries to their employer or union officials."

Hearing of it from The Journal, before having a chance to see it, J. Michael Downey, president of Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, said: "I am actually not surprised, hearing [past] comments from Stenhouse ... [given] his lack of respect for public employees."

Added Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island: “It is not surprising that in the wake of the Janus decision, a local group, funded by extreme right wing dark money, is continuing to attack public sector union members and the unions to which they belong. The knowledge that these attacks are ultimately fueled by groups who do not believe workers should have a voice in the workplace should only serve to make members more supportive of their unions, not less.”

The not-totally-unexpected campaign centers on a June 27 U.S. Supreme Court decision — known as Janus v. AFSCME — that prohibits labor unions from compelling payments from non-union members. The court ruled 5-to-4 in favor of employee Mark Janus, who argued that he should not have to pay a fee to the union that represented employees at his workplace on First Amendment grounds.

In Rhode Island, that boils down to a ban on the mandatory payment by non-union members of “agency fees” which, for many of Rhode Island’s public-sector workers — and public school teachers — equates to 85 percent or more of what they would have paid in dues.

In the wake of that decision, Gov. Gina Raimondo directed the head of the state’s Department of Administration to withhold the personal contact information of state employees — including their home addresses and personal email addresses — from outside groups potentially intent on union-busting.

“It has come to my attention that in the wake of the Janus decision, certain organizations have undertaken a coordinated campaign to attack and undermine public sector unions,''  Raimondo’s memo said. The subject line: “Protecting the Privacy of State Employees.”

Stenhouse described Raimondo's memo as an overt attempt to keep state employees from learning their rights.

He said the campaign — timed to coincide with "National Employee Freedom Week (Aug. 19-25) — is designed to inform public servants of their recently restored First Amendment rights, as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Janus v AFSCME case.

"A consistent champion of constitutional rights for all citizens, the Center believes public employees deserve to know that they now have full freedom when it comes to deciding whether or not it is in their best interest to pay union dues; and that they cannot be recriminated against if they choose to leave. Prior to the Janus ruling, all state and municipal employees in Rhode Island were required to pay their government-designated unions as a condition of employment."

The "My Pay My Say" website begins with this statement: "It's your paycheck. Union membership is now your choice. Do you know what your new "Janus Rights" are?"

"Did you know that you can no longer lose your job, your benefits, your seniority, or otherwise be recriminated against if you choose not to pay your union? Do you know how to leave your union, if you so choose?" 

"Do you know what your union's political agenda is ... and do you agree? Did you know that other non-union organizations offer services you may need ... such as liability insurance and grievance representation ... at a far lower cost?"

Stenhouse cited what his group views as objectionable union-driven practices: "Restrictions on compensation, where good teachers cannot be paid more, that have led to the shortages in Providence schools ... Restriction(s) on after(extra)-work sessions with students and parents ... Seniority rules that mean good (young) teachers may be laid off, while poor teachers must be retained."

The R.I. Center for Freedom & Prosperity describes itself as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt research organization. Asked how much the center raised for the campaign — and who contributed to the effort — Stenhouse said "90 to 95 percent'' of the center's funding comes from "local private sources,'' but "we are going to exercise our rights and keep that information private."

"This campaign is part of a larger effort funded by the Koch Brothers and their allies,'' said Gov. Raimondo's spokesman Mike Raia. "This is exactly why [the governor] took proactive steps to protect state employees’ private contact information."  

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