Bruce Rauner moves to unilaterally bust unions in Illinois

Republican Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has issued an executive order that effectively makes Illinois a "right-to-work-for-less" state for public-sector workers by allowing non-union public employees to effectively steal wages and other benefits of union contracts without paying for them in the form of either union dues or fair share fees:

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner launched the first of his promised attacks on the state’s labor unions on Monday with an executive order intended to end the legal requirement for Illinois state workers who are not members of unions to pay agency or “fair share” fees to cover the costs to the union of bargaining on their behalf. The action is a shot across the bow by a governor who clearly intends to go to war with organized labor in Illinois.

Currently, all unionized state employees must pay an agency fee. According to the governor, 6,500 workers are now paying this fee—what he dubs an “unfair share” to one of the several unions representing a significant share of the state’s workforce. Until the courts rule on his executive order, Rauner said the dues of the 6,500 will be held in escrow.

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Rauner not only chose to make the attack on organized labor one of his earliest actions, but also chose to bypass the state legislature, where Democrats control both houses and could have been expected to reject this public sector equivalent of the “right-to-work” laws for private sector workers.

Thankfully, our state's public employee unions are strongly opposed to Rauner's unilateral busting of public employee unions, in fact, AFSCME Council 31, our state's largest public employee union, is organizing against Rauner's union-busting efforts:

Anti-union strategists obviously hope that more workers will choose to forego paying dues if they can, but some unions, including the largest public sector union in the state, AFSCME Council 31 (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), say they have already started an escalated plan of internal organizing to strengthen support for the union and worker solidarity.

“Bruce Rauner’s scheme to strip the rights of state workers and weaken their unions by executive order is a blatantly illegal abuse of power,” AFSCME Council 31 director Roberta Lynch said. “Perhaps as a private equity CEO Rauner was accustomed to ignoring legal and ethical standards, but Illinois is still a democracy and its laws have meaning. … Our union and all organized labor will stand together with those who believe in democracy to overturn Bruce Rauner’s illegal action and restore the integrity of the rule of law.”

While this executive order does not appear to effect private-sector unions and workers, that doesn't change the fact that this executive order effectively allows non-union public employees in Illinois to effectively steal wages and other benefits of union contracts without paying for them via union dues or fair share fees. Bruce Rauner thinks that he can do whatever he wants without having to face any consequences whatsoever simply because he bought a low-turnout gubernatorial election last year with his money and the money of his right-wing cronies. Illinois progressives and labor union members are not going to back down and roll over to Rauner's heavy-handed tactics to bust unions, drive down wages, and further weaken an already weak Illinois economy. Can we get 100,000+ Illinoisans to peacefully protest outside of our state capitol?