DENVER – Today, the Independence Institute announced its participation in National Employee Freedom Week, a first-of-its-kind national campaign to remind union members about the freedom they have to leave their unions.

National Employee Freedom Week (NEFW), which will run from June 23-29, 2013, will highlight how unionized employees often don’t know they have the legal right to opt-out of union membership — and will help educate those employees on their options so they can make the decision about union membership that’s best for them. NEFW is a national campaign with 40 partner organizations in 30 states.

To celebrate NEFW, the Independence Institute will continue to conduct widespread outreach efforts that remind union employees about their right to opt out of union membership, provide generic opt-out letters, and highlight alternatives to union membership. For nine years, the Institute has notified teachers about their membership and political refund options, directing professional educators to the website http://IndependentTeachers.org.

The Independence Institute will also release the results of a poll of Colorado union households that shows a startlingly high percentage of union members are interested in leaving their unions. The information will be released on Monday, June 24.

“As in so many areas of life, having choices in workplace representation can be empowering,” said Independence Institute senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow. “We are glad to help spread the word so more Colorado educators and other employees can celebrate the options they have.”

The number of organizations participating in National Employee Freedom Week is expected to increase in the coming weeks. More information is available at http://EmployeeFreedomWeek.com/.

The Independence Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research organization based in Denver.