The public employees in Janus v. AFSCME have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the state of Illinois from forcing workers to pay union fees as a condition of government employment.

Resigning from the union before the potential upcoming strike can protect teachers from union discipline.

On Sept. 2, a state administrative law judge issued a 400-page recommendation regarding the status of contract negotiations between Illinois and the state’s largest government-worker union. Three important things to know about the decision include: the state and AFSCME are in uncharted territory in their negotiation-related proceedings, the judge found the parties have reached impasse on 5 of 12 contested issues and the judge questioned AFSCME’s testimony and behavior during negotiations.