Illinois labor unions are asking a judge to invalidate Gov. Bruce Rauner's executive order ending a requirement that state workers pay union dues even if they don't want to join a union.
Twenty-seven unions filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Republican governor. They say the order he issued last month violates collective bargaining agreements and state law.
Rauner's order would eliminate so-called "fair share" dues. He also filed a federal lawsuit asking the dues be declared unconstitutional.
Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan says Rauner's "political obsession" with stripping state workers' rights "demeans their service, hurts the middle class and is blatantly illegal."
"We always expected the government union bosses to fight to keep their stranglehold over Illinois taxpayers in place," Lance Trover, the director of communications for the governor's office, said in a statement. "These forced union dues are a critical cog in the corrupt bargain that is crushing taxpayers, and the government unions will do anything to keep the broken status quo."
Labor unions filed their lawsuit in district court in St. Clair County.
