Oregon just handed unions a tool to muzzle opt-out campaigns — New York is next

Published September 7, 2026 7:00am ET



Every Labor Day brings another round of headlines lionizing organized labor’s role in American life. This year, the more revealing story is what some union bosses are doing to keep workers from learning they don’t have to join at all.

In Oregon, a bill became law, effectively criminalizing mailers that inform public employees of their First Amendment right — affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME — to leave their union and stop paying dues without losing their job.

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