FDR criticized -public employee unions-. And "free to join" is antithetical to "closed shop, state-mandated collection of dues," as is union involvement in politics with the goal of regulatory capture and union monopolization of government-funded projects.  But nice try.

What these "elder statesmen and woman" miss is that the Republican Party has always been about -individual freedom-, freedom from -government- force and protection of individuals against violence and aggression by others, not using the power of government to force individuals to hew to some sort of collective, transitory,  trendy value signalling.