“Janus v. ASFCME A Win for Life!”
July 20th 2018
The recent Supreme Court Decision on the Janus v. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) case is one that will likely have long term positive results for the prolife cause. This decision establishes Public Sector workers’ First Amendment rights. In a recent release by the Buckeye Institute, Robert Alt, president and CEO said, “In Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector workers can no longer be forced to pay for political speech without their affirmative consent.”
It is no secret that unions have been using member dues for political campaigns to support pro-abortion candidates for years. This decision firmly establishes prolife employees’ First Amendment Rights to withdraw from the unions. Prager University and the Daily Signal have published excellent explanations of Janus decisions which we encourage you to read.
For any public sector employee who would like assistance with understanding how this decision impacts them, The Buckeye Institute has provided an excellent resource which is being hailed as the best such resource in the country.
The following article is reprinted with permission. The article was published on July 10th.
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The Buckeye Institute Launches Workers Choose Campaign to Allow Public Employees to Express First Amendment Rights in Wake of Janus Ruling
Columbus, OH – Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, The Buckeye Institute launched its Workers Choose campaign, which gives public employees in Ohio the tools they need to express their newly-recognized First Amendment rights.
“In Janus v. AFSCME, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector workers can no longer be forced to pay for political speech without their affirmative consent,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute. “For public-sector employees who seek to exercise their First Amendment rights and withdraw from their government union, WorkersChoose.org will allow them to initiate the process online in three easy steps. For those workers who are happy to continue supporting their government unions, they also have the First Amendment right to maintain their membership in them. The Janus decision is a win for all of our public workers, who are now respected and have a right to choose–and those choices must be honored. I’m not sure how anyone could be opposed to letting workers decide for themselves.”
To initiate the process of withdrawing from their government union, visitors to WorkersChoose.org will:
Be asked to provide their name and email address
Find and select the county in which they work from a drop-down menu
Choose their employer from a drop-down menu
Identify their government union in a drop-down menu
Instructions will then appear that outline the opt-out process for that union and, when known, the specified time frame or opt-out window. A completed notification letter, unique for each user, will be available for download and submission, as will union and employer contact information. Workers will simply need to download the letter and either email or send a hard copy to the listed contacts as instructed. If workers are required to email or send their notification letter at a future date, visitors have the option of signing up to receive an email notification when their opt-out window opens.
For public employees who have questions, there is a toll-free number, 1-855-e-Choose, and an email address, WorkersChoose@BuckeyeInstitute.org that they can use for further assistance.
“If you are one of Ohio’s hardworking teachers or other public-sector employees who prefer not to financially support or participate in your government union, WorkersChoose.org will allow you to begin the notification process today,” said Alt.
