Conservative, free-market groups across the country have launched campaigns aimed at persuading teachers to drop out of their unions, in the aftermath of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that will put a dent in unions鈥� finances and membership numbers.
For the past year, union officials had been preparing to face both an adverse ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31鈥攚hich last month determined public-employee unions could no longer collect fees from nonmembers for collective bargaining鈥攁nd . But the speed and scope of the anti-union messaging has been striking.
In some cases, school district officials have even stepped in to block the flow of these outside messages on school system email servers.
Right-leaning think tanks and advocacy organizations have placed anti-union ads on Google and social media and sent targeted emails to teachers across the country. Some plan to go door to door to reach 糖心动漫vlog during the summer.
Ashley Elpern Chapman, a public school teacher and union member in Newton, Mass., received a message from one of these groups, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the day after the Janus decision came down on June 27.
鈥淭he wording of [the email] sounded very manipulative, and very, 鈥榃e鈥檙e here to help you,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e there to push an agenda鈥攏ot looking out for teachers.鈥�
National unions and state affiliates have been quick to highlight that many of these organizations receive funding from prominent conservative donors and have ties to the Koch family foundations, which have donated millions of dollars to conservative and libertarian groups. The groups see the Janus decision as an opportunity to gut money from the unions, who support Democratic candidates and issues. also receives funding from , a philanthropic group started nearly three decades ago by the now-U.S. secretary of education and her husband. Unions argue that these email and social-media campaigns are designed to suppress workers鈥� rights and benefit corporate interest.
But Patrick Wright, the Mackinac Center鈥檚 vice president for legal affairs, says that his organization is simply providing teachers with the facts necessary to make an informed choice.
鈥淔or years [workers] have been , and we want to let them know that they have options,鈥� said Wright. 鈥淭he unions have incentives not to tell them.鈥�
鈥業nformation About the Truth鈥�
Through its outreach project, 鈥淢y Pay, My Say,鈥� the Mackinac Center is contacting teachers in 11 states. The group has filed requests under states鈥� open records laws to obtain union members鈥� email addresses, said Jarrett Skorup, the organization鈥檚 director of marketing and communications.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 disagreements about politics, concerns about a lack of local representation, problems with union spending, or something else鈥攜ou now have the right to stop paying for activities you don鈥檛 support,鈥� read emails sent to teachers in Massachusetts and New York. The messages also provide a link to a state-specific opt-out form.
Most of the people who have started filling out these opt-out forms are coming from Google鈥攚here the group has placed targeted advertisements鈥攐r through direct visits to the website, said Skorup. Thousands of people have already filled out information through these online forms, he said.
Other organizations are planning to go door to door. , a free-market think tank in Washington state, is preparing to send representatives to teachers鈥� homes and workplaces in California, Oregon, and Washington, said Jami Lund, a labor policy specialist with the group.
In past outreach to union members, the Freedom Foundation has sent emails and physical mailings, and done in-person visits at members鈥� homes and workplaces, said Lund.
鈥淎ll we have in our arsenal is information about the truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f [the union鈥檚] business model relies on compulsion, then shame on them.鈥�
Counter-Campaigns
The teachers鈥� unions are fighting back. Some state affiliates of the National Education Association have already crafted counter-messaging that focuses on the Mackinac Center鈥檚 connection to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
鈥淔unded by Betsy DeVos, they want to destroy unions and limit 糖心动漫vlog鈥� voice, rights, and pay,鈥� reads a Google ad against the organization, placed by the Maryland State Education Association.
The produced a video, 鈥淪ay No to Betsy,鈥� accusing DeVos鈥� 鈥渁nti-union friends at the Mackinac Center鈥� of a 鈥渕assive effort to undermine unions and public schools to divide working people.鈥�
American Federation of Teachers president with the DeVos Foundation on Twitter.
From 2001 through 2015, the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation donated $355,000 to the Mackinac Center, according to publicly available federal tax forms. (DeVos has stepped away from her duties at the foundation since becoming secretary. Neither the foundation nor Devos鈥� spokeswoman at the U.S. Department of Education responded to requests for comment.)
The Freedom Foundation and the Mackinac Center have also both received contributions from Donors Trust, a charitable organization funded by conservative donors, including the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, that supports conservative and libertarian organizations.
鈥淲hen 糖心动漫vlog are aware of who鈥檚 funding [these anti-union campaigns], and what their agendas are, then the charade of these emails falls away pretty quickly,鈥� said Adam Mendelson, a spokesperson for the Maryland State Education Association.
Chapman, the teacher from Massachusetts, thinks most teachers will want to stay in the union, but she is worried about new teachers and people who might want to save money.
鈥淭heir messaging is very savvy, but I鈥檓 hoping that unions and dedicated teachers will see beyond that,鈥� she said.
鈥楾otally Unwanted鈥� Messages
Some school districts are taking steps to stem the flow of these messages. In Anne Arundel County, Md., the school system blocked opt-out emails after the state union alerted the district that teachers were receiving them, said Bob Mosier, a spokesman for the district.
The emails note clearly that they are commercial messages, which the district blocks as a rule, said Mosier. Teachers 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 have to wade through the electronic equivalent of junk mail,鈥� he said.
Several state officials are also trying to prevent anti-union groups from collecting teachers鈥� contact information after the Janus decision. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, signed an executive order preventing state entities from disclosing the home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of public employees, which includes teachers. Oregon鈥檚 Democratic governor, Kate Brown, is considering setting new limits on release of public employees鈥� personal information.
Gary Brennan, a social studies teacher in Frederick County, Md., says he hopes more school districts take these steps. Communication from these groups is 鈥渏ust totally unwanted,鈥� said Brennan, a union member for 32 years. 鈥淲e have a lot of work to do. We don鈥檛 have time to be sorting through false information from partisan groups.鈥�
