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Why EEZEE Choice Was Created
As explained by its founder, Phil Seelig
What is EEZEE Choice Protection & Benefits?
EEZEE Choice is a new kind of company created to fill the needs of Civil Service Workers who choose to opt out of their union. EEZEE Choice offers customized protection and benefit plans at significant savings.
A Commitment to Workers
I founded EEZEE Choice as part of my commitment to the wellbeing of workers and their families. As a former corrections officer and loyal union member I saw the problems members faced up close. So, I ran for and was elected Union President serving over 10,000 of my fellow officers. I worked hard for my members achieving some of the biggest contractual and legislative victories on their behalf. To expand my ability to represent the needs of workers I studied law and became an attorney. After retiring from the Dept. of Correction I started my own law firm. I focused my firm’s practice on fighting for the rights of all workers. It is to those workers and their families, through EEZEE Choice, that this commitment continues to grow.
Forced Membership
It wasn’t long ago that civil service workers were compelled to join a union. Over the years some union bosses developed an outsized influence over the local political machinery. Regrettably this political leverage was used to craft legislation forcing civil servants to join their designated union. Forcing civil service workers to unionize and have money automatically deducted from their paychecks ended up serving the interests of the union executive boards more than the working members. Under this arrangement dues continued to rise, leadership’s compensation grew and member benefits became an afterthought. (See “Unions ain’t what they used to be”) This financial inequity finally drove one union member to take his complaint all the way up to the US Supreme Court.
A New Option for Civil Servants
In the now famous case of Janus vs AFSCME known more widely as “The Janus Decision” the US Supreme Court was asked to examine the fairness of compulsory union membership and the mandatory deduction of dues from the checks of civil service workers. The court determined that it was unconstitutional for civil servants to be forced to belong to and pay dues to a union they do not wish to be a member of. The court mandated that these civil service workers must be free to opt-out of their unions while still retaining the same employer-provided pay and benefits as those granted to dues paying members. Consequently, civil service workers were faced with two options, both of which still fell short.
Workers could stay in the union and continue to pay excessive dues for inadequate coverage and substandard representation.
—Or—
Workers who chose to opt-out of their union would be left with limited coverage and only governmental protections.
I knew, through my successes on behalf of civil service workers that there was a better way. So, with compulsory union membership a thing of the past, the next evolution in worker protection and benefits was conceived.
Now There’s a CHOICE and it’s EEZEE
EEZEE Choice was designed from the ground up to provide a new way for workers to finally get less expensive and more customized solutions for their protection and benefits. EEZEE Choice Participants can consider a range of options and cost structures that best suit their individual needs. To get started visit “Get Started with EEZEE Choice”
Have questions about opting-out? Check out the “Stop My Dues FAQs” Page