The Freedom Foundation: Selling Out the Working Class for Profit

CWA Local 1036 is strong because our membership is united against bosses, politicians, and corporations trying to stifle worker power. One corporate lobby you may have heard of is the Freedom Foundation, a self-ascribed “think-tank” that claims to free workers from their unions while really trying to weaken our collective strength and support initiatives that benefit the top 1%. 

While everyday workers across the country struggle to keep up with a rising cost of living, the Freedom Foundation is actively lobbying to squeeze the working class even tighter. In the last decade alone, they’ve fought tooth and nail against increases to minimum wage, our right to organize our workplaces, our public sector pensions, and paid sick leave laws. They say they’re fighting for the working class, but a closer look at their funders reveals otherwise. As a member of the State Policy Network (SPN), a web of anti-union think-tanks, the Freedom Foundation receives millions from private donors like the Koch Brothers and the Bradley Foundation, which funnel money into litigation that hurts workers and benefits corporations. The Freedom Foundation also uses deceptive tactics through their project Opt Out Today to trick workers into dropping membership.

Both the Bradley Foundation and the Freedom Foundation played a crucial role in the 2018 Janus v. AFSCME  decision. The ruling deemed it unconstitutional for unions to collect fees from non-members in the public sector, despite being required to continue representing those non-members, effectively shrinking union budgets and making it harder for workers to organize.

Unions help workers use their voices in the workplace, but groups like the Freedom Foundation replace worker voices with those of the 1%. It’s no secret that unions hurt corporate profit by making it harder for employers to exploit workers, that’s why union members take home 18% more pay on average that non-union workers. It’s also why high union density states, like New Jersey, have some of the best mandatory paid leave laws in the country. 

Having a union means being able to successfully push back against legislators, lobbyists, and employers that try to cut worker rights and benefits. When the Christie administration sought to gut public sector pensions, it was unions like our Local that held the line and saved our pensions. It’s our union that wins contracts guaranteeing up to 43% in raises in just four years’ time. The Freedom Foundation might say they fight for you, but it’s your fellow workers, our union, that stands by your side when workers’ rights are on the line.