Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL)
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner didn't wait long to go after unions. Rauner took office on January 12, and on Monday afternoon he followed up his proposal to ban political contributions by public employee unions with an
executive order exempting public employees from paying fair share fees to the unions that represent them.
That means that around 40,000 state workers who are union members will be paying for their unions to bargain contracts and represent grievances for around 6,500 workers who aren't union members and now won't have to pay the fee covering work the unions do directly representing them. It's a nice deal—if the union negotiates a raise, you get the raise, but your coworkers pay for the research and legal advice and everything else that goes into negotiating—and it's exactly the kind of deal Republican politicians and businesses insist on for unions, but refuse to offer themselves. (For good reason.)
It's not clear Rauner's order will hold up, but he's clearly setting the tone for his dealings with unions and union workers going forward:
Anticipating a strong pushback from organized labor, Rauner filed a pre-emptive federal lawsuit in Chicago seeking to have his decision declared legal. But the move likely will spark additional court battles as unions quickly decried the effort as an illegal abuse of power. It’s also possible Democratic lawmakers could vote to overturn Rauner’s executive order. [...]
While collective bargaining is guaranteed by the Illinois Constitution, Rauner’s executive order could serve as a warning shot to AFSCME as negotiations begin ahead of expiration of the union’s contract on July 1.
Congratulations, Illinois. You've elected a Scott Walker wannabe, only your guy is
also a member of a $100,000 wine club who wants you to know that he's not in the top one percent, he's in the top .01 percent.