I run the organization New York is trying to shut down.
A few days ago, at the tail end of its legislative session, Albany lawmakers passed a bill giving Attorney General Letitia James sweeping new powers to investigate and fine any organization — even those based in other states — for communications she determines to “falsely impersonate” a union.
The fine is $1,000 per incident: $1,000 for every mailer or email my group, the Freedom Foundation, sends to tens of thousands of workers annually.
The bill claims it’s meant to stop the impersonation of union representatives, but its real purpose is to stop groups like mine from telling public employees what their unions don’t want them to know: That they have a constitutional right to decline union membership and dues without losing their jobs.
Eight years ago this month, the US Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that forcing public employees to fund the labor union designated on their behalf with either dues or so-called “agency fees” violates their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and association.
It’s a message that unions are determined to keep their members from receiving.
And the Freedom Foundation exists to make certain that they hear it loud and clear.
New York lawmakers delivered exactly what the unions asked for: A vote to gut Janus in the Empire State and suppress workers’ rights by suppressing our group’s voice.
The unions had little choice — because our messaging works.
Since 2018, the Freedom Foundation has helped more than 278,000 public employees nationwide leave their unions, taking with them an estimated $791 million in dues revenue.
In New York alone, nearly 7,500 workers have used our materials to opt out, including more than 1,400 this year.
Every one of them is one less source of dues revenue for union political machines.
So instead of making a better case for why workers should stay, unions are asking Albany to make it illegal for workers to hear any other point of view.
The bill’s “impersonation” language sounds reasonable until you read it.
It prohibits communications made with “intent to deceive” the recipient — language potentially broad enough to ban parody, satire or any communication that could be construed to mimic a union official’s voice.
It’s a broad definition that poses a very real risk: The United Federation of Teachers has a track record of threatening legal action against teachers for writing obviously satirical blog posts in the UFT president’s name.
And the law hands enforcement not to workers who actually feel deceived, but to the judgment of the state attorney general.
That would be Letitia James, who is running for reelection this year.
She has received significant union support in spite of — make that because of — her history of conflating political vengeance and justice.
Any group unions don’t like is now fair game for James’ subpoenas, investigations and crippling fines.
And that’s exactly its point.
New York’s unions didn’t hatch this scheme by themselves: The new legislation mirrors a similar measure approved last year in Oregon.
That law, which took effect in January, created a private right of action, meaning unions can sue us in state court.
New York’s goes further and skips that step entirely, handing enforcement power directly to the attorney general and explicitly authorizing her to investigate and subpoena out-of-state organizations.
A nonprofit in Florida, Texas or anywhere else that sends a mailer to a New York public employee could soon be subject to Letitia James’ whims.
If that sounds like an extraordinary reach for a state law, it is.
The Freedom Foundation moved immediately to challenge Oregon’s law, and its lawsuit is currently before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
If necessary, we’ll sue New York, too.
This is the post-Janus playbook: Unions lost at the Supreme Court, so they’re turning to blue-state legislatures.
They can’t force workers to pay, so now they’re trying to make sure workers never find out they don’t have to.
New York’s bill makes honest communication a fineable offense — and Gov. Kathy Hochul shouldn’t make her state a party to this travesty by signing it into law.
The 7,500 New York workers who used our materials didn’t opt out of union membership because we tricked them.
They did it because someone finally told them the truth.
Aaron Withe is CEO of the Freedom Foundation.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
