AFSCME responds to Rauner executive order on fair-share fees

Today, Feb. 9, AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch released the following statement in response to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s executive order forbidding state agencies from collecting fair-share payments from state employees:

“Child protection workers, caregivers for veterans and the disabled, correctional officers and everyone else employed by state government have a right to a voice at work and in the democratic process through their union.

“Bruce Rauner’s scheme to strip the rights of state workers and weaken their unions by executive order is a blatantly illegal abuse of power.

“Perhaps as a private equity CEO Rauner was accustomed to ignoring legal and ethical standards, but Illinois is still a democracy and its laws have meaning.

“It is crystal clear by this action that the governor’s supposed concern for balancing the state budget is a paper-thin excuse that can’t hide his real agenda: Silencing working people and their unions who stand up for the middle class.

“Our union and all organized labor will stand together with those who believe in democracy to overturn Bruce Rauner’s illegal action and restore the integrity of the rule of law.”