BREAKING NEWS: Court allows state workers to challenge mandatory union fees
Ruling issued late Tuesday allows three employees of Illinois state government to challenge so-called “fair share” fees
CHICAGO (May 19, 2015) – A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that a lawsuit challenging mandatory union fees paid by government workers in Illinois can move forward. The judge’s ruling was in response to legal action taken in March by three state workers represented by attorneys at the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
“Government workers should not be forced to pay money to a government union to keep their jobs,” said Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. ”With today’s ruling, the court recognized that these workers deserve to have their day in court.”
Background: Illinois law forces most employees of state government to pay money to a union as a condition of keeping their jobs. Even though state workers aren’t forced to be full-fledged union members, they are required to pay fees to the union whether or not they want representation.
In March, three state workers represented by the Liberty Justice Center and National Right to Work Foundation took legal action to end that practice.
The three state workers sought to intervene in a federal lawsuit originally filed in February by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. In that lawsuit, Rauner asked a federal judge in Chicago to declare mandatory union fees unconstitutional.
Government unions and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked the court to dismiss Rauner’s lawsuit, arguing the governor did not have standing to bring this suit because he has not been required to pay union fees. Today the court ruled that the governor does not have standing, but that the three state workers represented by the Liberty Justice Center and National Right to Work Foundation do have standing and can move forward with the case. These three state workers replace the governor as plaintiffs in the case to end fair-share fees.
Due to the magnitude of this case, it may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is positioned to rule that mandatory nonmember union fees are unconstitutional based on its June 2014 ruling in Harris v. Quinn, in which a personal care assistant challenged former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. In the Harris decision, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote that a 1977 decision allowing mandatory nonmember union fees was “questionable.” In Harris, a majority of the high court ruled that requiring personal care assistants to pay mandatory union fees was a violation of their First Amendment rights.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nathaniel Hamilton or Diana Rickert
media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977
The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm that specializes in protecting individual rights and enforcing limits on government power. It was started by the Illinois Policy Institute in 2011. Since its founding, the Liberty Justice Center has focused on cases related to protecting economic liberty, private property rights, free speech and other fundamental rights in Illinois and beyond. To learn more about Illinois Policy Institute, visit illinoispolicy.org. To learn more about the Liberty Justice Center, visit libertyjusticecenter.org.