Almost 7.8 million government employees work under union contracts. If you’re one of them, odds are you’ve never voted for the union that represents you or on whether to be unionized at all. In many government workplaces, employees inherited a typical corporate union formed years or decades earlier.

With headquarters often based in Washington, D.C., these corporate unions typically have several layers of affiliates, each with its own offices, staff, budgets and agendas, and each of which gets a cut of the dues members’ pay. Prominent examples include the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

These behemoths tend to be expensive, less responsive to local members’ needs and focused on advancing one-sided political agendas that are out-of-step with many members’ views and values.

Unfortunately, because of special exemptions in consumer protection laws, these unions can and often do agree to not compete with each other for members, leaving public employees who feel poorly served by their current corporate union with few alternatives.

Unless they take matters into their own hands.

If the corporate union model isn’t working for you and your coworkers, you have three options:

1. Decertify (disband) the existing union
2. Create an independent union (it’s not as hard as it sounds!)
3. Disaffiliate your local union from the corporate union’s state/national headquarters

Each approach has its pros and cons and state laws governing these options vary. Each involves a certain amount of paperwork and degree of commitment to see it through, and you may need to overcome opposition from the incumbent union.

That’s where the Freedom Foundation comes in.

Founded in 1991, the Freedom Foundation is a nonprofit organization which fights to defend individual liberties. From cases before state labor boards to the U.S. Supreme Court, our team has decades of experience providing free assistance to public employees seeking to protect and expand their right to choose whether to join or be represented by a labor union.

We have worked with public employees around the country—from police officers in Washington state to public school teachers in Illinois—to help them disband unwanted unions or switch to a workplace representation model that’s a better fit. Get in touch to see how we might be able to help you and your colleagues do the same!