From State Representative Allen Skillicorn’s office regarding the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling on AFSCME v. Janus.

WORKERS HAVE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE

East Dundee, IL – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturned a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.

The decision favors plaintiff Mark Janus, a child support specialist from Illinois who argued 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.

According to research by the Illinois Policy Institute, the five major government unions in Illinois doled out a combined $46 million to political campaigns between 2002 and 2014. Making the biggest recipient of money confiscated from workers’ paychecks, politicians.

“Let me be crystal clear, this is about political special interests, not labor.

Workers who wish to remain members of their union are unaffected by the ruling. This is a major victory for worker rights and democracy.” said State Representative Allen Skillicorn (R- East Dundee).

The time has come to ensure that this freedom is enshrined in law for workers in Illinois.

Representative Allen Skillicorn’s Worker Freedom bills: HB673 and HB4419 allow employees to organize, negotiate, or bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own free choice, and protecting them should they choose not to.

Allen Skillicorn commented, “Union members should have a choice, everyone should have a choice. It’s the right thing to do.”

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Illinois Policy Institute, The Anatomy of Influence: Government Unions In Illinois