Kane County Reporter

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) is applauding the Supreme Court decision that absolves non-union workers from being obligated to pay fees that are used for collective bargaining.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court last month ruled in favor of plaintiff Mark Janus, a child support specialist from Illinois who took the position that his union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), violated his First Amendment rights by engaging in political speech with which he did not agree.

"Let me be crystal clear, this is about political special interests, not labor,” Skillicorn said in a press release. “Workers who wish to remain members of their union are unaffected by the ruling. This is a major victory for worker rights and democracy."

Skillicorn has already introduced the so-called Worker Freedom bills, which he said will allow workers to better “organize, negotiate, or bargain collectively” with their employers through representation more reflective of their own views.

“Union members should have a choice; everyone should have a choice,” he said in the release. “It’s the right thing to do."

Over a 12-year period ending in 2014, the Illinois Policy Institute estimates that the five major government unions in Illinois doled out a combined $46 million in political contributions.

Janus was represented in the proceedings by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Liberty Justice Center.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME overturns a more-than-four-decades-old ruling in the Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case.