Exclusive: how rightwing groups wield secret 'toolkit' to plot against US unions

[CousinIT]

Rightwing activists are launching a nationwide drive to persuade public sector trade union members to tear up their membership cards and stop paying dues, posing a direct threat to the progressive movement in America.

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that a network of radical conservative thinktanks spanning all 50 states is planning direct marketing campaigns targeted personally at union members to encourage them to quit. The secret push, the group hopes, could cost unions up to a fifth of their 7 million members, lead to the loss of millions of dollars in income and undermine a cornerstone of US progressive politics.

“Well run opt-out campaigns can cause public-sector unions to experience 5 to 20% declines in membership, costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in dues money … This can affect the resources and attention available for union leaders to devote to political action campaigns,” the internal documents say.

The anti-union marketing drive is the brainchild of the State Policy Network (SPN), a coast-to-coast alliance of 66 rightwing thinktanks that has an $80m war chest to promote Donald Trump-friendly regressive policies such as low taxes and small government. The group is funded by such billionaire conservative donors as the Koch brothers and the Walton Family Foundation that stems from the Walmart fortune.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/15/rightwing-thinktanks-secret-plot-against-unions?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook

NOTE: SPN is the state-level version of ALEC

[ck4829]

1. The conservative goal isn't just to have power, it's to erase the left and the 'other' from

the political body altogether.

[Ilsa]

2. And I bet they tell the quitters that the union has to represent them

if they file any grievances, thanks to rightwing judges. They get the benefits of membership for free, and yet they don't care that the person working next to them is footing the bill with their dues.

[Fullduplexxx]

3. The real moochers and takers