Nearly five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that: Janus v AFSCMEwould permanently limit the power of government unions.
The Supreme Court drew a line in its decision, affirming the essential political nature of public sector trade unions and freeing them from the obligation to finance political agendas that do not support government officials. (Related: Smith: One Illinois Ballot Amendment Could Put America Down A Very Dangerous Road, Here’s How)
In the five years since this landmark decision, the working landscape has changed. Like Janus, Illinois serves as a model for what’s to come across the nation: more political and militant unions than ever before.
Many workers, when presented with the option of leaving, appear to have left rather than remain in organizations they feel do not represent their interests and values.
The US State Council of County and Citizens Council 31 (AFSCME) has seen an 18.5% decrease in dues and fee payers in Illinois since 2017. AFSCME’s national chapters lost about 172,000 supporting employees, down 12% nationally.
Statewide, Illinois government union membership has fallen more than 8.5 percent since 2017, and 36,418 fewer public employees chose to pay union dues and fees, according to a federal report.
With the exception of SEIU HCII, all of Illinois’ major government unions have experienced declines in membership and dues payers since the ruling. A closer look at the SEIU HCII’s own documents shows that about one-third of the 91,000 representative workers across four states choose not to be union members.
Faced with declining membership numbers, government unions have been forced to adapt and step up their political activism to maintain and perpetuate their power. In 2022, less than 21% of the spending of the AFSCME Council31 went to worker representation, with the remainder going to political, administrative and other union leadership priorities.
New contracts are set to be announced in the coming weeks, and taxpayers will face the cost of increased demands from unions whose new powers have just been incorporated into the Illinois Constitution. Government trade unions have sought to consolidate their power in the face of declining membership with Janus, using such constitutional maneuvers and aggressive political policies.
An amendment that was included in the Illinois constitution last year was advertised as the “workers’ rights” amendment. In fact, the First Amendment gave government unions the ability to demand virtually anything in bargaining and the right to strike permanently to get those demands.
It gave the resulting agreement the power to override state law. After the bill passed by a narrow margin in Illinois, he encouraged government union leaders to try to change similar labor laws in both countries. California and Pennsylvania.
Proponents of these potential amendments flood voters with the false notion that the measures are only there to protect workers—a tactic they devised in Illinois. right. But the truth is that collective bargaining is already protected by federal and state law. These measures are simply a power grab that puts taxpayers at risk from striking government unions demanding everything from affordable housing to defunding the police.
Political spending is another tool used by unions that have lost membership to consolidate their power.
In Chicago, nearly 91% of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign money came from 27 unions. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), which employed Johnson as an activist, $2.3 million It worked to make him president and now holds the position of the most influential organization in Chicago politics. This is despite some CTU members expressing dissatisfaction with the treatment of campaign funds and filing unfair labor practices complaints against the union.
In total, the CTU financially supports half of the incumbents in the Illinois Legislature and 68% of the incumbents in Chicago, including Emmanuel “Chris” Welch, Don Harmon, John It also includes prominent politicians such as Harmon. Janet Taylor.
And the CTU, which has suspended work five times since 2012, has expanded its demands beyond the usual issues of remuneration and working conditions and urged other trade unions to do the same.of Boston Teachers Union have pushed forwardhousing justice,” and the Auckland Education Association California went on strike over climate change demands.
Five years after the Janus decision, it is clear that the role of government trade unions has changed significantly. Instead of listening to the reprimands of judges and the denials of union members, trade unions got deeper into politics, putting their own power and agenda ahead of the interests of the rest of the union.
Government unions could have used the Janus ruling to reinvigorate their mandate as advocates for civil servants, but instead chose to pursue political power that corrupts democratic processes and weakens taxpayer voices. bottom.
Mary Smith is senior director and staff attorney for labor policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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