The Supreme Court could decide as early as Monday the landmark Illinois public employee union case, Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, a ferocious legal battle triggered by Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Unions representing government workers in 22 states, including Illinois, are braced for an adverse ruling, expecting to lose the long-standing ability to collect fees from non-members to cover the costs of collective bargaining and enforcing the contract.
The justices are being asked to overturn a 1977 Supreme Court opinion that public employee unions could, without violating First Amendment free speech rights, collect “fair share” or “agency fees” since the unions have a legal obligation to represent all workers, whether or not they chose to be members.