When We Stand Together We Win

Dear OCEA member,

Today the US Supreme Court carried out an attack on working families brought on by the same extremists we have been battling for decades here in Orange County – this time trying to cripple our freedom to stand together in our union to fight for fair wages and protect the important benefits our families deserve.

You may hear about the case – Janus v. AFSCME – in the news this week.

The case was funded by the same corporate and dark money interests that have been working for decades to take away your retirement security, outsource your jobs and undermine your ability to negotiate for a fair wage. They want to weaken unions because they know the power we have when we stand together to negotiate wages, benefits and rights. Our power cuts into their profits and prevents them from outsourcing public work.

We’re still reviewing the Supreme Court’s decision and will have more details in the coming days, but it appears the Court has ruled that non-union members will no longer be required to pay a fee to cover their fair share of the cost to negotiate with the employer and protect your contract.  

This case is part of the ongoing sophisticated and coordinated attack on our freedoms to stand together in a union. Next, dark money groups with names like the Freedom Foundation will begin contacting union members and attempt to get you to drop your union membership.

We began alerting you about these groups months ago because we learned that they had obtained membership lists for other union members and were contacting workers in their homes and by phone. We have already taken steps to protect your personal information from these groups.

One thing is clear. We have been through too much together in Orange County to fall for this kind of attack. We have had to fight too hard to protect our pensions from opportunistic politicians and protect our jobs from being outsourced to their political contributors. We know what would happen if our union was weakened here because together we fight every day for fairness in a place that is not fair for working people.

Working together in our union is why we have the rights and benefits we have today, and growing our union’s solidarity is why we have been able to keep them. No politician or judge can take that freedom away from us.

If you would like to learn more about this case, the Freedom Foundation and the many benefits of membership, visit us at ocea.org/facts.

And if you would like to get involved in helping us combat these attacks and ensure our union remains strong and grows even stronger for future generations of workers, sign up at ocea.org/getinvolved.

In solidarity,

Jennifer Beuthin
OCEA General Manager

Publication Date: June 27, 2018