Rauner executive order takes aim at unions
Gov. Bruce Rauner Monday signed an executive order declaring state workers don't have to pay fees to support union bargaining if they're not in the union, a move labor officials see as a direct affront.
In making his case, the Winnetka Republican pointed to a key high court decision from last year concerning a Lake County mom who wanted to avoid paying union dues while the state paid her to care for her disabled son at home.
Rauner says he anticipates his move will eventually have to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rauner's order says that workers don't have to pay “fair-share” dues, a cost to support union bargaining paid by workers who don't want to be in the union. Rauner says that includes about 6,500 people in state government.
Rauner was loudly critical of “government union bosses” on the campaign trail, and his order Monday puts more specifics behind his battle with organized labor. The order only affects state workers, not local government unions for teachers.
“I believe it's important that state government stop forcing its employees to pay union dues against their will because it violates the constitution,” Rauner said. “And our legal team agrees with me.”
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees called the move “blatantly illegal.”
“It is crystal clear by this action that the governor's supposed concern for balancing the state budget is a paper-thin excuse that can't hide his real agenda: Silencing working people and their unions who stand up for the middle class,” AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said in a statement.
Last year, in the case of Lake County mom Pam Harris, the U.S., Supreme Court sided with “partial-public employees” who didn't want to pay fair-share fees, but the court stopped short of ruling on full-fledged public workers.
Rauner would essentially be asking the Supreme Court to take that next step, giving the case the potential to have broad national impact.
Public workers including teachers are already doing battle in court over former Gov. Pat Quinn's law to cut their retirement benefits, a case that is set to come before the Illinois Supreme Court this spring. So far, unions have won the early stages of that fight.