Freedom Foundation Women Need a Union

Something stands out when you scroll through the Staff page of the Freedom Foundation’s website or look at their list of board members and funders: white men run the place.

In fact, since the departure of Litigation Counsel Hannah Sells, there are no women in leadership positions at the anti-worker organization. The few women on the Freedom Foundation staff are in the valuable, but not decision-making, roles of “assistant,” ”associate,” “coordinator,” and paralegal. And since the departure of California Director, Sam Han, there are no people of color in leadership positions.

The Freedom Foundation pretends to be representative of, and helpful to, Northwest workers. But when the (white, male) leaders of the anti-worker Freedom Foundation choose to attack unions in their failed attempt to “defund” them on behalf of their billionaire donors, they’re hurting women and workers of color the most. All workers do better when unions are strong, but women and workers of color benefit most from the improved wages, working conditions, job protections, and economic mobility that come with a union job.  It’s no surprise that workers continue to reject the Freedom Foundation and their mission to weaken the collective voice of Americans who are not wealthy, white, and male.

Home care workers are a frequent target of the Freedom Foundation’s union-busting efforts. In the necessary and growing home care field, 87 percent of workers are women and 60 percent are people of color. There’s a reason women are leading the charge to organize this and other industries — union jobs are safer and include better training, and union women earn 23 percent more than nonunion women.

Unions that represent teachers and other educators are also frequent Freedom Foundation targets. Seventy-seven percent of public teachers are women.

The lack of women in leadership roles at the Freedom Foundation might not be an accident, though. Freedom Foundation CEO Tom McCabe has criticized “women’s groups,” claiming there’s a concerted effort by environmentalists, liberals and women’s groups to eradicate all “manly jobs.” McCabe has surrounded himself with male staffers who have made disturbing and derogatory remarks about women, including jokes about survivors of domestic and sexual assault.