Illinois Town Among New Fronts on Nation’s Right-to-Work Map as Supreme Court Deadlocks
Despite the lack of a definitive ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of mandatory union dues, workers across the nation have ample opportunity to challenge why they’re forced to pay for political activism they don’t support.
That’s clear from a state-by-state map that measures the current level of worker freedom in both the private and public sectors.
When the high court split 4-4 this week on a landmark case challenging “agency shop” rules requiring public employees to pay union fees, it meant a lower court ruling in favor of the unions will stand.
However, those who watch “right to work” issues closely say, other litigation will continue to gestate at the state and local levels.
In Illinois, for instance, the town of Lincolnshire is pressing ahead with a right-to-work ordinance that has received scant press attention, but could have significant legal reverberations.
The Supreme Court case known as Friedrichs v. California Teachers involved public sector workers. But had the high court ruled in favor of 10 California schoolteachers who object to that state’s agency shop rules, it likely would have created additional momentum for right-to-work initiatives in the private sector, according to a team of researchers with the Center …read more