In the previous post I detailed how some lawmakers defending HB 1575 made some startlingly hypocritical arguments in response to a series of amendments seeking to remove the bill’s most objectionable provisions that would violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the recent Janus ruling. 

One of the amendments, 597, proposed to remove the provision of HB 1575 that would allow government unions to use a worker’s  “recorded voice” as a method to authorize union dues deductions. 

The sponsor of the amendment, Senator Braun, expressed his concern that allowing unions to record a simple “yes” during a telephone call with a worker as authorization to deduct union dues from their paycheck could, at the least, result in workers being purposefully misled, or agreeing to things they may not understand, and at the worst, result in fraud. 

Union authorization forms are complicated documents of over 2,000 words, and a worker’s agreement represents a significant forfeiture of his free speech rights that commits him to paying the union while severely limiting the ability to quit those payments. Senator Braun pointed out that a private sector business soliciting such commitments over the telephone would likely be prosecuted by the state Attorney General.

You can read about Senator Saldaña’s hypocritical comments opposing that amendment here.

If the hypocrisy isn’t enough, Senator Saldaña concluded her opposition to Amendment 597 by agreeing with Senator Braun that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is a proactive defender of consumer rights and reassuring him AG Ferguson would never tolerate any telephone authorization monkey business from unions.  

As far as reassurances go, that one is pretty thin and downright disingenuous. AG Ferguson has made it abundantly clear he vehemently disagrees with the Janus decision and has made no secret of his opposition to, and seeming disdain for, that decision from the nation’s highest court.  

Before the Janus ruling, AG Ferguson teamed with Governor Inslee to author an editorial warning that a ruling in favor of worker choice would “threaten the financial viability of unions.” The day the Janus ruling was released, AG Ferguson again teamed with Governor Inslee to issue a joint press statement railing against the Court’s decision as “the newest attempt to undermine and destroy public sector unions.” 

Needless to say, Senator Saldaña’s reassurance isn’t very reassuring at all.