This is the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling government employees cannot be forced to pay a union. In that year, about 20,000 workers from just three of Illinois’ public-sector unions have said “no” to union membership.

By continuing practices such as automatic raises and taxpayer-subsidized platinum health insurance, along with a new $2,500 bonus, the AFSCME contract will transfer more than $3.6 billion in additional compensation from taxpayers to state workers.

Thousands of Illinois workers are no longer sending a part of their paycheck to one of the state’s most politically active unions.

At least 300 Chicago Public Schools employees have stopped paying fees to the Chicago Teachers Union after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled they could not be forced to pay the union just to keep their jobs.

One school district in New Jersey has stopped deducting union dues and fees until it has new authorizations from employees to do so – a step in line with what the U.S. Supreme Court demanded of state and local government employers and government unions in Janus v. AFSCME. Illinois governments should follow suit.

Without right-to-work protections currently offered in 27 states, you pay the union or lose your job. It’s very simple.

What Harris has in common with Janus is immense courage. Both show the power of a single individual, an Illinoisan, to change the course of the state and the nation.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision marked a new era of freedom for public servants in 22 states, including Illinois. Here’s what public sector workers need to do to secure their newly restored rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision today in Janus v. AFSCME, confirming that forced union fees are unconstitutional.