Public sector unions such as WFSE/AFSCME 28 work to defend worker’s rights and pass worker-friendly legislation. In contrast, the Freedom Foundation receives donations to fight the political power of public sector unions. One builds while the other destroys.

A tool used by the Freedom Foundation is its campaign designed to convince workers to stop paying union dues by filling out an Opt Out Today form. Defund to defang.

Another tool is to find the perfect puppet. These are disgruntled workers, sometimes former or active union members, who have a chip on their shoulder or a personal grievance. Puppets promote the Freedom Foundation’s Opt Out Today campaign  and “independent unions” unaffiliated to big unions. From the Freedom Foundation’s point of view, it is best not to have a union at all. But if workers stubbornly want a union, then it better be a powerless one. When it comes to union representation elections, a 3-way race −where the choice facing workers is no-union, big union or powerless union— is always better than a 2-way race where the choice is between no-union and big union. In a 3-way race, there is bound to be workers upset with the election results who will transfer their anger to the winning union whomever that might be. “Independent unions” −that sometimes exist only virtually− are used to decertify existing unions by persuading workers that their current big union is corrupt and incompetent. Workers fight each other rather than uniting to defend their rights.

To further its goal of defunding unions, the Freedom Foundation engages in constant litigation forcing unions to spend membership dues in hiring attorneys to defend themselves diverting them from improving the lives of workers. Lawfare is the strategic use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent forcing them to waste their time and money defending themselves from frivolous litigation. This is the Freedom Foundation’s weapon of choice. Below is a summary of the main legal battles against Interpreters United.

April 2020: Prodded by WA Interpreters, a language company owned by a couple of credulous interpreters --that had bid for the L&I scheduling system portal and lost-- filed a protest with L&I asking for a re-bid. Among other things, the company alleged that L&I had awarded the contract to a company, Language Link Corp, that was directly tied to WFSE’s Local 1671 leaders. In June 2020, L&I dismissed the protest. LOST

November 2020: WA Interpreters filed with PERC a representation petition asking for a union election to represent L&I interpreters. To file, the petitioner needs to show that 30% of the workers in that bargaining unit want the petitioner to be their union. WA Interpreters filed with only 12%. Why file for a union election when you know that you don’t have enough interpreters to support you? Because then you can mislead them by using the “I filed the petition first therefore I have the support therefore I will win” fallacy. PERC declared the petition deficient, WA Interpreters asked for an extension, then another, until six months later they got to the 30%. How they got to the 30% is unclear. Let’s remember that when the election did happen in August 2022, WA Interpreters only got 19% of the valid votes cast. Yes, WFSE won the union election by a landslide and WA Interpreters LOST.

January 2021: WA Interpreters filed with PERC an unfair labor practice complaint against L&I accusing it of interfering with a union election. PERC dismissed it in March 2021. LOST.

March 2021: WA Interpreters filed with PERC an unfair labor practice complaint against L&I accusing it of unlawfully changing the way interpreters schedule appointments. This was a spurious legal action to stop the implementation of the online scheduling system. PERC dismissed the case. WA Interpreters appealed in Superior Court and lost. WA Interpreters then went to the Court of Appeals which dismissed the case in April 2024. LOST.

November 2021: Induced by WA Interpreters, four credulous interpreters filed in Superior Court a class action lawsuit against L&I’s vendor Language Link Corp for breach of contract. In July 2022, the case was dismissed without an award of costs, terms, or conditions. LOST.

September 2022: WA Interpreters filed an objection to the results of the August 2022 union election. Of the 14 objections, PERC sustained two objections and ordered a 3^rd election. In April 2023, WFSE won the 3^rd union election by a landslide again. WA Interpreters filed an election objection with PERC to set aside the results of the 3^rd election. PERC dismissed the case. Then WA Interpreters appealed in Superior Court. The appeal was denied in December 2024. LOST.

March 2024: WA Interpreters filed with PERC a motion to stop the merger of the L&I interpreters’ bargaining unit with the DSHS, DCYF and HCA-Medicaid interpreters’ unit. PERC dismissed it. WA Interpreters appealed. PERC dismissed the appeal in March 2025. WA Interpreters appealed in Superior Court. ONGOING.

February 2025: In a fake advocacy effort, WA Interpreters convinced one lonely legislator with an anti-labor track record, to sponsor a bill about payment policies for interpreters. The bill was dropped ten days after the cutoff date for consideration in committee. In other words, the bill was dead even before arrival. WA Interpreters urged interpreters to contact legislators asking them to schedule a hearing for the bill knowing well that it was impossible. Credulous interpreters reached out to the Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society (NOTIS) asking its board to support this bill. NOTIS found itself in the painful duty to inform its members that they had been misled. UNMASKED.

May 2025: WA Interpreters filed with PERC a petition to decertify WFSE as the sole legal representative of L&I interpreters. In October 2025, PERC dismissed the decertification petition. LOST.

In summary, WA Interpreters has a track record of losing legal battles and misleading interpreters. This is a feature not a bug. We predict more of the same.