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WORKER
FREEDOM: MORE THAN 3,700 ILLINOIS STATE WORKERS STOPPED PAYING MONEY TO
A UNION IN 2018
Illinois Policy Institute/
Vincent Caruso
Of the more than 3,700 Illinois state
workers who stopped sending part of every paycheck to a union, 2,800
stopped sending their money to AFSCME.
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 Given a choice, more than 3,700 Illinois state workers have
decided to keep their pay rather than give a portion to a union.
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a historic First Amendment victory
to public sector workers nationwide whose forced union payments were pushing
political agendas with which the workers did not necessarily agree. The landmark
Janus v. AFSCME ruling offered workers the freedom to associate with a union or
not, and the Illinois state workers opting out of the unions are seeing pay
increases as a result.
Those 3,700 Illinois state workers do not include local government workers such
as police and teachers who stopped paying union fees. That number, obtained from
state data, does include 2,800 state employees who stopped sending money to the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.
 It’s not surprising that so many state workers represented by AFSCME have
decided to keep more of their money.
For decades, AFSCME has taken its stream of funds for granted, and prioritized
spending around union leaders and politics, rather than representing the
interests of workers. Filings with the U.S. Department of Labor show only 20
cents of every dollar AFSCME collects goes toward representational activities.
The rest? Overhead, administration, contributions to other groups and politics,
according to federal filings. What’s worse, an Illinois Policy Institute
analysis found that even much of that “representational” spending reported by
AFSCME is in fact political, rather than representational, in nature.
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According to the Wise Giving Alliance, a project of
the Better Business Bureau, a nonprofit should spend at least 65
percent of its total expenses on program activities. Suppose it came
to light that a disaster relief organization spent only 20 percent
of its funds helping victims: Its donors – or those who contribute
their hard-earned money to the organization – would justifiably feel
deceived.
For decades, government unions rationalized mandatory nonmember fees
by invoking the myth of “free riders” – unions by law must represent
all workers, so those who benefit should help pay for the union’s
representation. Unions complained they were forced to negotiate on
behalf of all government workers regardless of whether an individual
was a union member, so the individual should be forced to pay the
union for their help. Trouble is, it was government unions who
fought for the special privilege of carrying the full
representational burden in the first place. The unions have
repeatedly stood in the way of efforts to relieve that burden.
If Illinois’ government unions truly wish to purge “free riders,”
they should reconsider their opposition to current proposals that
would achieve true workers’ choice: 1) receive union representation
and pay dues, or 2) pay no dues and represent oneself at the
workplace.
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