Rauner eliminates 'fair share' union dues for state workers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an executive order Monday that has triggered a fight with the state's powerful labor unions.

The new governor says this is about choice: ending forced union dues that he says are part of a corrupt bargain that's crushing taxpayers. But union leaders say they see this as a full-frontal assault on labor.

There are more than 40,000 unionized state workers in Illinois. According to Gov. Rauner, as many as 6,500 of them have chosen not to become union members, which is their right. They don't pay full union dues, but they are required to pay a certain amount called a "fair share," since they're covered by the benefits of a union contract.

The new governor says "fair share" is neither legal, nor fair, and he's moved to stop it.

"If they wish to be in the union, terrific. They are entitled to join the union, and they have every availability to do that. If they do not want to be a member of the union and don't agree with the union's positions, they shouldn't be forced to pay for those positions," Rauner said.

On Monday, Gov. Rauner signed Executive Order 15-13 meant to "immediately cease" those so-called "fair share" payroll deductions. For now, they'll go into an "escrow account".

"What the governor has done today is a blatantly illegal abuse of power, in which like a dictator he tries to throw out a law that he doesn't personally agree with," said Anders Lindall, AFSCME Council 31.

Labor leaders have swiftly condemned Rauner's decision calling it "union-busting", part of a "right-wing playbook" that won't stand. The mayor didn't call it that, but made his labor supporters happy.

"The way we build Chicago to be No. 1 for corporate relocations, and No. 1 for families moving back in, is work together. It's not becoming a right-to-work state or a right-to-work city," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

The governor's action is based in part on a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that said certain health care workers couldn't be required to pay their "fair share" union dues, but that was a narrowly-tailored court decision. The governor is confident it has a broader application. Labor disagrees and will take it to court.