By Carleen Johnson
The Center Square

An X post from former Vice President Kamala Harris on this Labor Day has generated hundreds of mostly critical comments.

“When unions are strong, our communities and our country are strong. Every person in our nation has benefited from the labor movement. This Labor Day, we celebrate the workers and unions who have fought for fair wages, safe workplaces, and sick leave for all of us,” posted Harris.

One commenter posted in response, “The Dems talking point for today is…UNIONS. Today is literally for the worker but in true form, democrats make it about the evil system.”

Another wrote, “Kamala you should go work at McDonalds for real this time, so you don’t have to lie about it again in 2028.”

That was a reference to Harris’s claim during the 2024 Presidential campaign that she had worked at McDonalds during law school. Then candidate Donald Trump pushed back, insisting Harris made up the claim to make it sound like she had middle class roots.

McDonald’s said it didn’t have records extending back to when the vice president would have worked at any franchise.

Freedom Foundation, an Olympia, Wash., based think tank, has helped tens of thousands of American workers opt out of paying union dues since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision in 2018.

SCOTUS ruled that requiring such union fees in the public sector violates the First Amendment right to free speech. Opting out does not mean a worker gives up their right to be represented by union leadership in collective bargaining, but they do lose voting rights in contract agreements.

“In July alone, 5,381 government employees made the decision to leave their union, bringing the total financial impact to more than $5 million in annual dues redirected away from unions that can no longer be used to fund their political agenda,” wrote Michael Ciccio with the Freedom Foundation in an Aug. 6, 2025, post. “Each opt-out represents a public employee reclaiming their First Amendment rights and taking control of their paycheck. And with momentum on our side, we’re not slowing down.”

Union members pay a percentage of their gross pay in monthly dues. The percentage can vary, but a worker represented by the Washington Federation of Public Employees making $100,000 a year would pay $1,500 a year or $125 per month.

As reported by The Center Square, Sept. 1 is the deadline for teachers in Washington state to make a decision about union participation. After that date, teachers can still opt out of union participation; however, their monthly dues will still be collected until this time next year.

Many public employees in New York are also walking away from their unions. According to FF, opt-outs surged 63% from July of 2024 to July of this year.

“This isn’t a one-off. It’s a movement. And if the pace continues, New York will crush last year’s totals,” wrote FF’s Ryan Brooks. “New Yorkers are waking up to where their dues are really going – political slush funds, six-figure union salaries and agendas that don’t represent them.”

Groups like the Service Employees International Union, which represents about two million American workers in healthcare, law enforcement, stadium workers and other public employees, counter FF’s opt-out message calling the organization right-wing extremist.

“They want to dismantle government, cut public services and outsource public jobs to the private sector. Our union protects public employees and the public good. As long as we’re strong, they can’t get their hands on the billions of dollars invested each year in public services and public education,” read a post from SEIU Local 73 titled ‘Don’t be Fooled by Freedom Foundation’.

For decades, labor unions have championed Democratic candidates and Republicans have not received a lot of union support. But in the 2024 Presidential election, Trump’s working-class base saw a good share of rank-and-file voting for Republicans.

Trump sat down with Teamster’s leadership ahead of the election hoping to get their endorsement. The Teamsters ultimately declined to endorse either Trump or Harris, though Teamsters leader Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention.

According to the 2024 VoteCast survey conducted for AP and Fox News, 57% of union members voted for Harris compared with 41% for Trump.