Imagine someone sent an email to your entire office saying that your spouse should lose his job. Then imagine you were forced to help pay that person’s salary. Jade Thompson doesn’t have to imagine that scenario, because it happened to her.
Thompson is a high school spanish teacher from Marietta, Ohio. Her husband is State Rep. Andy Thompson, a Republican. “I knew unions were political, but I didn’t realize how political,” Thompson said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “It’s 100 percent political.”
The Ohio Education Association ran flyers against Thompson’s husband in 2010, when he first won his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, “I, all of the sudden, had this epiphany. ‘Oh. My forced union dues are going to fund the campaign against my husband.'”
Thompson explained how the local teachers’ union president emailed every teacher at her school to urge them to campaign against Thompson’s husband, accusing him of opposing public education.
To make matters worse, the Thompsons had children in that school. All of their teachers received an email saying Thompson’s husband should be removed from office. One of her kids actually had to take a class with the union president who had sent the emails.
“It’s personal for me. I don’t want to be a part of that,” Thompson said. “Teachers deserve to have a choice.”
Thompson spent Monday morning outside the United States Supreme Court to rally against unions during oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Schoolteacher Rebecca Friedrichs sued her union for being forced to pay agency fees that cover the cost of collective bargaining. Friedrichs and her lawyers argue that the fees force her to support political speech she doesn’t agree with, like unions negotiating against merit pay or negotiating certain pension agreements.
While interviewing Thompson, I started to ask her how she responds to labor union arguments that say it will be the end for unions if Friedrichs wins the case. “The other side is over there, talking about how this is just an anti-union thing, and if Friedrichs wins this will destroy unions forever,” I said.
Thompson interjected, “I hope so.”
She explained that teachers need liability insurance, but they can get it without being forced to pay hundreds of dollars a year in union dues.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
