Feb. 14--Gov. Bruce Rauner's attempt to put in place right-to-work rules for state workers ran into its first challenge Friday when Comptroller Leslie Munger said she would continue to send to unions the fees paid by employees who decline membership.
The move effectively blocks an executive order Rauner issued Monday that would have put the "fair share" fees into a special account until a court could rule on whether employees should be required to pay them.
On Friday, Munger's office said the fees will continue to be deducted from worker paychecks and sent to employee unions following legal advice from Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who said the payments are legal and the comptroller must follow current law. The move puts Munger at odds with Rauner, who appointed her to fill the comptroller term following the death of Judy Baar Topinka late last year.
"After discussing this matter with all parties, Comptroller Munger will defer to the guidance of the Attorney General as it relates to what actions are within the scope of her legal authority," Munger spokesman Brad Hahn said in a statement.
Rauner, who maintains the fees are unconstitutional, had little to say about the situation Friday.
"I haven't sorted all the facts," Rauner said at an unrelated event in Elmhurst. "My understanding is that the position of some leaders that gave us advice in the past, they've changed their minds. They've flip-flopped. That happens. We'll work it through and deal with it. We'll come to a good resolution so we can move forward."
Rauner, however, declined to say who was doing the alleged flip-flopping.
The fees in question are at the heart of the right-to-work push by conservatives across the country. The idea is to put in place rules to prevent unions from requiring workers who don't want to be members to pay related fees to cover the cost of collective bargaining and contract negotiations they still benefit from. Illinois law prohibits those fees from being used to support political activities, but Rauner has contended it's nearly impossible to draw a distinction because public sector unions directly negotiate with the government.
Nationwide, attempts to limit those fees are primarily aimed at private sector workers, but Rauner took direct aim at the public sector unions that fought against his election last fall. In addition to his executive action Monday, Rauner filed a lawsuit in federal court with the aim of eventually getting a judgment on the legality of the fees from the U.S. Supreme Court.
But Madigan's office said until that happens, the state is required to collect those fees and give the money to unions.
"Fair share fees remain constitutional," Madigan spokeswoman Natalie Bauer Luce said Friday. "The United States Supreme Court was asked to rule on that issue in the Harris v. Quinn case, and they declined to do that. That leaves in place case law that says these fees are constitutional."
That case involved Illinois home health care assistants who argued they were wrongly designated "public employees" and organized by the Service Employees International Union and therefore couldn't be required to pay the union fees.
By a 5-4 majority, the justices agreed and ruled that forcing the home health care workers to pay union fees violated the First Amendment. The justices stopped short of ruling on the larger question of whether any public sector workers can be compelled to pay the fees.
Mandatory union fees were upheld by the Supreme Court's 1977 decision in a Detroit school board case that concluded fair share dues were constitutional as long as the fees were not used to support a union's political activities like lobbying or campaign contributions.
Unions have long argued that limiting the fees they collect is an attempt to weaken their power by draining financial resources, therefore giving more power to employers at the expense of workers.
On Friday, they praised the comptroller's decision to move ahead with payments saying Rauner's efforts were illegal.
"It is gratifying to know that two of our state's constitutional officers are clearly committed to upholding the Constitution," said Roberta Lynch, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest state employee union. "That they include both a Democrat and a Republican shows that preserving the integrity of our democracy isn't a partisan or political issue. No elected official has the right to place themselves above the law."
