Group files five forgery lawsuits against unions; two in Oregon [View all]

The anti-union group Freedom Foundation said Tuesday that it had filed five more lawsuits in West Coast states, including two in Oregon, alleging that unions had forged workers’ signatures to authorize the deduction of union dues from their paychecks.

The foundation, funded by a network of conservative groups, has been pursuing an aggressive campaign to encourage workers to opt out of union membership to undermine unions’ financial and political clout. It has stepped up that effort in the wake of a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that ended a provision in Oregon and 21 other states requiring public employees to pay what’s known as “fair share” or “agency” fees as a condition of their employment, even if they opted out of union membership.

The foundation had previously filed seven similar forgery cases, including one in Oregon.

The defendant in both Oregon lawsuits filed Monday is the Service Employees International Union 503.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/04/group-files-five-forgery-lawsuits-against-unions-two-in-oregon.html