Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director
(360) 956-3482 or Reverend Ivan Poisel (509) 837-7268

State’s largest independent labor union orders pastor to send dues to ACLU

SUNNYSIDE, WA - The Public School Employees (PSE) union has ordered a religious objector to send his dues to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) instead of a local food bank.

Reverend Ivan Poisel, a part-time school bus driver in Sunnyside and pastor of a Church of God congregation, has religious objections to the activities of PSE, the state’s largest independent labor union. But operating under an “agency shop,” PSE requires public school employees to either be members of the union or pay mandatory fees. State and federal law protect religious liberty by allowing individuals to become “objectors” and designate a charity to receive 100 percent of their dues.

That is what Rev. Poisel did, choosing to send his dues to a local food bank. But state law says that union officials and employees must mutually approve a charity, and PSE says it will only approve the ACLU.

“The union’s demands are ridiculous,” said Poisel. “They know they can’t spend my money, but they’re sending a lawyer halfway across the state to prevent me from giving it to a local food bank.”

When Rev. Poisel was told by PSE lawyers that he must appear before the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) to arbitrate the dispute, he contacted the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a long-time defender of individual liberty and free speech.

“Cases like Rev. Poisel’s are all too common,” said Bob Williams, EFF’s president. “Union officials don’t care about accountability because they have a monopoly over workers.”

PERC has upheld employee rights in previous cases brought against workers by PSE, permitting individuals to send their dues to a county food bank and a local Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC).

PSE officials objected to CPC, but the PERC examiner concluded that “in choosing between two qualifying non-religious organizations . . . the statutory focus on individual rights weighs in favor of the [organization chosen] by the individual employee.”

PSE is not the only union under the spotlight for its treatment of religious objectors. In a ruling published last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the National Education Association has been systematically discriminating against teachers who have religious objections to the union’s activity.

As for Rev. Poisel, he intends to see his battle through to the end. “I will not allow the union to intimidate and discriminate against people because of their religion,” he said.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org