Rauner tries to block 'fair share' fees from state workers who don't want to be in unions [View all]

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday ratcheted up his battle with government employee unions, using his executive power to force a court fight on whether workers who opt not to join a union should have to pay "fair share" fees.

The new Republican governor said more than 6,500 state employees are paying fair share fees in lieu of union dues. Under Rauner's executive order, that money would be put into a special account until a court decides whether the move is legal.

"They call that fair share," Rauner declared in his Capitol office. "Let me tell you. It's anything but fair."

Rauner said a legal team headed by former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb and colleagues at the law firm of Winston & Strawn will handle a case in which the state will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the governor's position, a move known as a declarative judgment. Unions also could try to go to court to block Rauner's move and state lawmakers have the power to overturn executive orders if they can muster the voters.

The move drew immediate pushback from one of the state's top unions.

“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," said Roberta Lynch, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31. “It is crystal clear by this action that the governor’s supposed concern for balancing the state budget is a paper-thin excuse that can’t hide his real agenda: Silencing working people and their unions who stand up for the middle class.

“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," the statement concluded.
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