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Labor Groups Call on Democrats to Rally After Janus Ruling

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U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's ruling that government workers can't be forced to contribute to labor unions has labor groups calling on Democrats to rally together.

The case involved Illinois state government worker Mark Janus, who argued that everything unions do, including bargaining with the state, is political and employees should not be forced to pay for it.
Emma Tai with the independent political organization United Working Families says the ruling was not a surprise to her.
 
"The real question is whether the Democrats will fight back. In the middle of protection for workers, protections for women, protection for immigrants, people of color being stripped away by the high court, Democrats have been chasing their tails in a debate about civility."

A recent study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois estimated that public-sector unions could lose more than 700-thousand members over time as a result of the ruling and that unions also could suffer a loss of political influence that could depress wages as well. Tai says she thinks that was the plan all along.
 
"This was a Supreme Court decision that was specifically designed by the people who have raked in the profits from a rigged economy to weaken collective efforts to fight for good jobs, good schools, safe communities, breathable air."
 
The court's conservative majority upended a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require that public employees pay some fees to unions that represent them, even if the workers choose not to join.
 

Launched in 2008, the Illinois News Connection (INC) is part of a network of independent public interest state-based news services pioneered by Public News Service. Our mission is an informed and engaged citizenry making educated decisions in service to democracy; and our role is to inform, inspire, excite and sometimes reassure people in a constantly changing environment through reporting spans political, geographic and technical divides.

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