Dear Valued Member of the United Steelworkers Local 8599 Family,
I would like to address a mailer that you may have received from a political organization, the Freedom Foundation, under a threatening title “Legal Notice.” The Freedom Foundation is a crooked company funded by big businesses that wants you to stop supporting the USW in order to further their own political goals. This is a direct attack on all of us. You are your Union, and your Union needs your support!
By encouraging you to stop supporting our Union, the Freedom Foundation wants to drain the resources used to negotiate on your behalf, improve your working conditions, and ensure that you are treated with dignity and respect. Among the many deceptive features of this mailer, the Freedom Foundation included a fake “check” that they claim represents how much money you can “add to your salary” by stopping your dues deduction. We want you to know that just 1.45% of your pay is deducted for dues. With those resources and your support, our Union has been able to:
• Secure a strong collective bargaining agreement that provided an 8% raise for the 2021-22 school year, and another 4% raise for the 2022-23 school year;
• Negotiate a cumulative 29.15% in wage increases over the past ten years alone;
• Bargain a bonus for Classified and Hourly members;
• Protect the fully-paid benefit package for all full-time equivalent members;
• Ensure your right to participate in negotiations and attend representations or other meetings during work hours without loss of pay by reimbursing the District for release time; and
• Promote the interests of working people, everyone – including you and your family – at the state and local level.
Simply put, it takes money to run a strong, effective union. The Freedom Foundation is trying to silence your voice at work by attacking those critical resources. Don’t let them succeed.
The strength of our Union depends on YOU!
In Solidarity,
Dawn Dooley
President, United Steelworkers Local 8599