The Freedom Foundation is After Workers’ Personal Information Once Again

Working families in Oregon are under attack.

An organization known as the Freedom Foundation is posing as a non-partisan “think tank,” and trying to acquire the personal information of Portland city employees without their permission. This group, fueled by major right-wing foundations with ties to the Koch brothers and out-of-state conservative billionaires, has a purely political agenda.

This Wednesday, we are urging the City of Portland to protect its workers privacy and personal information from the Freedom Foundation’s politically motivated attacks. Workers deserve to be protected from harassment.

The Freedom Foundation is part of the Koch-funded State Policy Network, a national network of far right organizations. A recent article in the Guardian detailed the political agenda of the Freedom Foundation to “defund and defang” unions so they can implement a far-right agenda.

What you can do: Send a message to your council member to tell them the Freedom Foundation does not work in the public interest.

Having your personal information in the hands of the Freedom Foundation makes you a target of harassment and could subject union families to identity theft. This risk should be taken seriously.

Reports have come that Freedom Foundation staff have visited union members’ homes and workplaces unannounced. We have even received reports that the Freedom Foundation has lied about who they are and have claimed that their own union provided them with members’ information.

The Freedom Foundation has aligned themselves with far-right, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ groups and should not be allowed access to the personal contact information of workers. Moreover, their extensive track record of failing to keep personal information safe and harassing families across the region shows their general contempt for hardworking people.

Oregon workers deserve to know that when they are home with their families or working hard on the clock, they are safe from political attacks.

We are confident that the City Council will put an end to the Freedom Foundation and their blatant attacks on workers. Until then, if the Freedom Foundation contacts you, know your rights and how to protect yourself against this extreme organization.