The Freedom Foundation: What OCEA Members Need to Know
Meet the anti-worker group funded by dark money trying to cut your pay, end your pension, and outsource your job.
What is the Freedom Foundation?
The Freedom Foundation presents itself as a champion of worker freedom. In reality, it’s a dark-money group funded by billionaires and corporations who see every worker protection you have as a threat to their bottom line. Behind closed doors and in public, they push the same agenda: slash your pension, freeze your pay, outsource your job, and gut your health benefits. Then they come workers directly, targeting them with misleading mailers designed to look like they’re on your side, all to weaken the one thing standing between you and their agenda: collective bargaining power.
Follow the Money: Who funds the Freedom Foundation?
Their funding comes from some of the wealthiest corporate interests in the country, such as Charles and David Koch, the Devos Foundation, State Policy Network, The Bradley Foundation, and the Walton Foundation (Walmart).
The Freedom Foundation’s Agenda
Don’t take our word for it—take theirs:
All claims are sourced directly from Freedom Foundation leaders and the State Budget Reform Toolkit, a blueprint co-authored by the Freedom Foundation with the goal of dismantling public services and eliminating government jobs.
1.
Hiring Freezes and Layoffs
The Freedom Foundation promotes hiring freezes…with the exception of hiring new, lower paid workers in order to lay off existing workers:
“States should consider freezing all positions, not just those unfilled today… An exception to this could be if a department offers to layoff existing employees to be replaced by new hires that are less costly.” – State Reform Budget Toolkit (pg. 23)
2.
Privatize & Outsource Jobs
“Taxpayers would be better off competitively contracting [out] jobs that already exist within the private sector.” – Amber Gunn, Freedom Foundation Blog
The Freedom Foundation advocates for the establishment of government privatization councils that “facilitate the regular, wholesale review of state government activities with an eye toward right-sizing government through competition and privatization.” – State Reform Budget Toolkit (pg. 34)
3.
Delay Raises
“It makes little sense to promote a pay raise for state employees who are satisfied enough with their jobs that 90 percent of them choose to remain employed by the state.” – Amber Gunn, Freedom Foundation Blog
4.
Cut Pensions
“Everything should be on the table … states should consider replacing their defined-benefit plans with defined-contribution 401(k) plans.” – State Reform Budget Toolkit (pg. 24)
5.
Raise the Retirement Age
The Freedom Foundation recommends raising the retirement age for new employees—State Reform Budget Toolkit (pg. 24)
6.
Raise health care premiums
“It’s about time state worker health insurance premiums were on the table. The Evergreen Freedom Foundation has long recommended that state workers pay a bigger share …” – Freedom Foundation Official Blog
What should I do if I’m contacted by the Freedom Foundation?
The Freedom Foundation operates by obtaining personal information of union members and contacting them in various manners—in person, phone, email, mail—part of a broader campaign to get workers to give up their bargaining rights.
If you or a coworker are being contacted in any manner (in person, mail, email, and social media etc.) by the Freedom Foundation, please notify your OCEA Representative or contact OCEA directly.
