A very well-written article about what is at stake.
Pam is one of my heroes.
Read all about her in this fine piece.
"Pam Harris, the case’s lead plaintiff, cares for her adult son."
"She
and other home-care workers brought a class action against the state,
disputing their status as Illinois state government employees and
challenging the compelled union payments. They argued that, even if they
were government workers, the rules in the public sector should be
different from those in the private sector, where compulsory dues and
fees have been allowed since the New Deal."
"Moreover, they claimed, since
the SEIU in its bargaining role was influencing government action, the
union is really a political organization engaged in lobbying. Compelling
government workers to support such organizations violates their First
Amendment rights, absent a “compelling state interest” in the outcome.
The legal standard applied by the Supreme Court in private-sector
cases—“labor peace”—is inapplicable when, as in Harris, the unionized employees don’t interact in a shared workplace"
"The Harris plaintiffs lost in district court and in the Seventh Circuit, but the Supreme Court agreed to hear their appeal."
