Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2018)
PAGE 6 | September 21, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Guest Opinion Who’s on our side? By Peter Starzynski NW Accountability Project director By Tom Chamberlain Oregon AFL-CIO President Freedom Foundation’s SPAM assault Election crunch time The anti-worker Freedom Foundation (aka Opt Out Today) is up to its old tricks. The group has been blasting out thousands of unsolicited emails to public workers, harassing them about their union membership. These are teachers, nurses and social workers — your friends, fam- ily and neighbors (or maybe you) — being bombarded by a torrent of SPAM. Freedom Foundation is not only interrupting the work- day of public workers across Washington and Oregon, but also wasting taxpayers’ money, which pays for the email service the group is abusing. This is just the latest in a long line of decep- tive and unethical tactics by the extremist, anti- worker front group. Union members have reported incidents of harassment. We’ve heard of the Freedom Foun- dation attempting to mimic union representa- tives. Obviously, public employees receiving SPAM from the Freedom Foundation are not happy about it. They’ve sent complaints in droves to their state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission. They’ve also flagged the harassment to Freedom Founda- tion’s email service provider, Vervemail, which said in response to one complaint that it’s in dis- cussion with the group about its sending prac- tices. The Freedom Foundation’s SPAM cam- paign, like the rest of their so-called “opt out” campaign, has been a massive failure as unions The 2018 election could readjust America’s pro-corporate agenda, which places an iron heel of oppression on the neck of American workers. Since January 2016, we have seen a steady push by the president and Congressional leadership to deregulate, undermine environmental protections, and degrade workers’ rights. The shift to increase corporate power is breathtaking. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s drive to privatize public education was partially halted this month when a court ruled against her efforts to unwind President Obama’s rules pro- tecting students from predatory student loan practices. Congressional leadership and President Trump were success- ful in rolling back the Dodd-Frank law’s consumer protections early in 2018. Remember, these protections were a direct result of abuses by the banking industry that resulted in the Great Re- cession that began in 2008. Trump’s efforts to undermine the collective bargaining agree- ments between the Federal Government and the American Fed- eration of Government Employees is just one of a series of efforts to reduce workers’ rights. The Supreme Court’s Janus decision in June is another so-called “right-to-work” attack to the heart of our workers’ movement. The push by the Trump Administration to eliminate any barrier to profit and wealth for those of his class is blatant and impacts our country from the selling of public lands to environmental rollbacks to privatizing the Postal Service and VA to the undermining of Obamacare. Thankfully, American workers are paying attention, and are motivated and engaged in the 2018 elections. Democratic social- ist candidates defeated long term legislators in New York and Massachusetts, reflecting our desire for an America that works for all, not just a select few. Poll after poll reveals a blue wave that could sweep this country, pushing Republicans out of control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the U.S. Sen- ate. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is fighting for his political life in a state that is fed up with anti-worker shenanigans. Yes, if we work hard, we could change the face of America. But don’t for a second think this will be easy. Polls are a snapshot of what is happening now, not what is reality on Election Day. Those in power will not give up without a fight, spending mil- lions in the process. Oregon is a classic example of a pro-corporate effort to install one of their own as governor. Since the May primary, Knute Buehler and a dark money campaign have spent millions to bring down a popular and successful Gov. Kate Brown. Phil Knight has contributed $1.5 million to the Buehler campaign. While Buehler portrays himself as progressive and bi-partisan, his vot- ing record paints a very different story: He’s voted against the minimum wage increase, investing in transportation improve- ments, paid sick leave, and more which — you can find on BuehlerBadForWorkers.com. Too many are not paying attention to Oregon’s gubernatorial election, forgetting Election Night 2010, when we went to bed thinking Republican Chris Dudley would be our next governor. Thankfully, John Kitzhaber won by a few thousand votes. Our win in 2010 came from the hard work of workers across Oregon going door to door, talking to co-workers, and of course making telephone calls. We are all stepping up our game in 2018 to main- tain the pro-worker, progressive wall on the West Coast, which is reflected in our union density and pro-worker policy wins such as Medicaid expansion, one of the highest minimum wages in the country, and establishing a path forward for our housing cri- sis. Many of Oregon’s problems occur from national pressures but are solved by a state that finds solutions from a worker and family perspective: It’s up to us to keep fighting for solutions that put workers ahead. Raymond Thomas Cynthia Newton Melissa Haggerty are becoming more and more popular in the northwest. The only thing the Freedom Foun- dation seems to be accomplishing is wide- spread irritation. If an anti-worker group like the Freedom Foundation (aka OptOutToday) sends you an email without your permission, they may be vi- olating their email provider’s terms of service, and maybe even the law. Follow these simple steps to report the SPAM. First, forward the email to these three addresses all in one email: (Choose the Wash- ington or Oregon attorney general, depending your state.) support@vervemail.com Freedom Foundation’s email provider spam@uce.govThe Federal Trade Commission Oregon: help@oregonconsumer.gov Oregon Attorney General Washington: CPRcontact@atg.wa.govWashington Atty. General Write: “The Freedom Foundation/Opt Out To- day spammed me at work without my permis- sion. Please take appropriate action and ask them to stop sending unsolicited emails.” Then, just mark the email as “SPAM” or “JUNK.” In most cases, this automatically sends a warning message to their email provider. NW Accountability Project is a union-backed non-profit that aims to expose moneyed special interests that are trying to bring an anti-union agenda to Washington and Oregon. James Coon Chris Frost Sydney Montanaro If you were hurt on the job by someone from another company, you have rights to sue that company, in addition to having your workers’ comp claim. 820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204 Scott Sell Chris Thomas www.tcnf.legal The Oregon AFL-CIO is a 138,000-member-strong federation of labor unions.
