OSEA member Joyce* got a surprising call from her field representative a few weeks ago. Hobe was calling to ask why she had decided to cancel her OSEA membership – something Joyce had never wanted to do.
"I've been a member for six years. I had no idea why Hobe thought I had dropped," Joyce said. But when he texted a photo of her signature on a card requesting to terminate her membership in OSEA, she realized what happened.
"I got something in the mail that I thought was a survey from OSEA," she said. "It said 'OSEA' on it and a handful of questions to get my feedback about the union. I thought I was doing my part, sharing my perspective, so I filled it out, signed it and sent it back in."
The "survey" was actually from the Freedom Foundation, an anti-union organization funded by dark money from out of state. In the fine print, it stated that, by signing the card, Joyce would be indicating that she wanted to cancel her union membership.
The Freedom Foundation's only mission is to weaken public sector unions, with the ultimate goal of rolling back laws that protect minimum wage, overtime, workplace safety and more. The group has been active in Oregon for years and frequently targets members of OSEA and other unions with mailers, emails and even showing up at members' homes. One of their favorite tactics is to put OSEA's name on their publications so that, like Joyce, members will think it came from our union.
Be safe! There are a few ways to tell the difference between an OSEA publication and a fake:
- Does it have the OSEA logo? It is not legal for any organization to use our logo to impersonate us. Fakes might use the letters "OSEA" but not our trademarked logo.
- What is the return address? Most OSEA mailers come from the State Office at 4735 Liberty Road S in Salem. If it has a different return address, it may not be from OSEA.
- Likewise, check the "from" and "reply to" addresses on any emails. OSEA emails that are not from an individual you know, like your chapter president or field representative, will come from an email address ending in @osea.org.
- When in doubt, ask us! Send a photo of the piece you received to your field representative.
Alert OSEA when you receive opt-out solicitations!
Joyce was able to tell Hobe that she wanted to keep her OSEA membership, and the cancellation did not go through. "I'm grateful for the protections I get from the union and being a member is how I support that," she said. "Dropping my membership would feel like I'm abandoning my coworkers, and that's not something I want to do."
*Joyce's name has been changed for privacy.