WSJ: “Hawaii Democrats are trying to silence opponents so unions can coerce workers to keep funding progressive political causes”
WSJ April 1, 2026: … Public worker unions are asking more from the Democrats they help elect, and the latest demand is legal protection against critics. An Oregon law targeting a think tank that notifies workers of their right not to pay union fees is now being imitated in other states.
Oregon’s Worker Fraud Protection Act makes it illegal to “falsely impersonate” a union representative and imposes fines for infractions. The law was written to discourage the Freedom Foundation, which sends out mailers to union members reminding them they can opt out of the union and save money under the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME ruling.
New York and Hawaii have now introduced copycat legislation. The Oregon law provides that a plaintiff “shall receive statutory damages in an amount of $6,250 per incident,” which could be each individual postcard sent to a union member. In the New York version, the fines are $15,000 per incident. That adds up fast. Hawaii allows for unspecified damages and ‘appropriate’ relief.
The unions claim the Freedom Foundation is trying to trick workers into thinking the mailings come from the union. But the mailings all identify the foundation or its union educational outreach project in plain sight. Freedom Foundation’s Maxford Nelsen says it’s “very risky to continue our outreach efforts in the state,” and that’s the point. Democrats mean to discourage the think tank from dissuading workers from automatic union fees collection.
In Oregon, the Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit arguing that the state law is unconstitutional and that’s it’s unlawful as applied to the Freedom Foundation’s outreach program. A federal court dismissed the case on grounds that the Freedom Foundation hasn’t yet been sued by a union for false impersonation. The decision is now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The union protection legislation is intended to stifle the Freedom Foundation’s speech, which is an effort to inform public employees of their own First Amendment rights to decline union membership. New York, Oregon and Hawaii Democrats are trying to silence opponents so unions can coerce workers to keep funding progressive political causes ....
read … Democrats vs. the Freedom Foundation - WSJ
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