By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – The fate of an Illinois case, Janus v. AFSCME, in which several state employees are challenging forced union dues, is becoming more clear after the election of Republican Donald Trump to the presidency, according to the National Right to Work Foundation.
A previous U.S. Supreme Court case out of California involving a teacher challenging so-called fair-share dues was kicked back to the lower courts because a vacancy left the high court evenly split.
NRTW President Mark Mix said the next forced-dues case up is Janus v. AFSCME, the outcome of which will have national significance for government workers who don’t want to pay for the politics of government employee unions.
“We think with the right justice, we could actually get a national right-to-work law for all government employees, thanks to the outcome of this past election.”
Mix said it could take a couple of months for a high court nominee to get approved by the U.S. Senate, but the Janus v. AFSCME case could get in front of the high court shortly thereafter.
The question is simple, Mix said: Is work that government employee unions do political in nature?
“They’re trying to advocate for certain government actions, and they’re trying to convince governments to do certain things with their resources, i.e. taxpayers’ resources, and so in that sense, it’s political speech,” Mix said.
“And if it’s political speech, it’s going to be protected by the First Amendment,” Mix said. “And if it’s protected by the First Amendment, then a worker can’t be compelled to pay anything to have someone, quote/unquote speak on their behalf.”
Mix said Illinois’ now $130 billion unfunded pension liability is the poster child of union power run amok, leaving taxpayers and government employees paying a huge price.
“And probably the biggest price will be paid by government employees who have done their job and probably are going to feel like they’ve been cheated when these pension problems really, really raise their heads, which I think they will sooner rather than later, unfortunately,” Mix said.
Regardless if Janus v. Illinois finds favor by the U.S. Supreme Court, Illinois could soon find itself surrounded by right-to-work states, Mix said. “We fully anticipate that the state of Missouri and the state of Kentucky will pass statutory right to work laws in the first couple of weeks of their legislative sessions as they begin in January in Missouri and begin in earnest in February in Kentucky.”
Other than Missouri and Kentucky, all other states neighboring Illinois are right-to-work, something critics say makes Illinois less competitive for potential businesses.
NRTW is representing plaintiffs in the case alongside the Liberty Justice Center, which is a partner to Illinois News Network’s parent organization, Illinois Policy Institute.
