My Pay, My Say
My Pay, My Say is a $10 million front group set up by The Mackinac Center to aid public sector union members in not paying fees to cover a union’s cost for negotiating better pay and benefits on their behalf following the Janus v. AFSCME labor case.[1] It purports to be a resource for "government workers who are currently compelled to pay their public unions as a condition of employment."[2] Members of the State Policy Network are joining with Mackinac and planning a "national communication and mobilization effort aimed at all public-sector employees." These efforts include YouTube videos "explaining" the Janus decision, and a forum to help visitors to its website "opt out" of their union.[3]
The Janus case was decided in June of 2018 and was part and parcel of a coordinated legislative and legal strategy to dismantle unions being advanced in a systematic manner by an interlocking group of right-wing funders and state-based groups.
Contents
News and Controversies
Advocacy of My Pay, My Say
The website of the project, mypaymysay.com, has two main functions. First, there is a United States Map. When visitors to the site click on the state they live in, it generates a correctly formatted letter to inform unions that an individual will no longer be a paying member. The second function is a list of "Info About Your Rights." It give anti-union information.
The site is similar to a Freedom Foundation website called "Opt-Out Today." Freedom Foundation received an award at the SPN 2017 Annual Meeting for “Best Issue Campaign, Union Opt Out Campaign” for this website that simplified the process for dropping payments to government unions.
Ties to The State Policy Network
My Pay My Say's parent organization, The Mackinac Center is an affiliate member of the State Policy Network -- a web of state pressure groups that denote themselves as "think tanks" and drive a right-wing agenda in statehouses nationwide. The State Policy Network published a piece about the roll-out of My Pay My Say from a Mackinac Center employee on their website to promote the group. [4]
"Tracie Sharp, SPN’s CEO and President, stated clearly in an internal document provided to The Guardian last year by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), that their objective is to 'defund and defang one of our freedom movement’s most powerful opponents, the government unions' and to 'deal a major blow to the left’s ability to control government at the state and national levels. I’m talking about permanently depriving the left from access to millions of dollars in dues extracted from unwilling union members every election cycle,' CMD reported.[5]
Contact Information
Email: info@mypaymysay.org
Phone: (833) 33-MYPAY
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MyPayMySay/
Twitter: twitter.com/mypaymysay
References
- ↑ ANNA PALMER, JAKE SHERMAN, and DANIEL LIPPMAN [1] Politico March 24 2018
- ↑ My Pay My Say Awareness and Education Effort Launched Around Landmark Janus Case PR News Wire, March 26, 2018
- ↑ My Pay My Say home organizational website, accessed July 2018
- ↑ GENEVA RUPPERT-WISE Mackinac Center supports right-to-work and launches My Pay, My Say State Policy Network May 24, 2018
- ↑ David Armiak, State Policy Network Unleashes Wave of Front Groups to Attack Public Union Membership, ExposedbyCMD, July 13, 2018.
