July 2018 issue www.hbaswi l .org To promote, educate and advocate for the Residential Building & Remodeling Industry; providing resources that benefit industry professionals and consumers in the communities we serve. In a landmark labor case, the court ruled that forced union fees are unconstitutional. The decision marks the first step toward worker freedom for 5.5 million government employees across the United States – including 370,000 in Illinois. A huge crowd showed up to be part of the Operation Finally Home Poggi family house dedication in Mascoutah. The ceremonies shared many special moments with recognition of those involved, prayers, blessings and heartfelt words from many close to this project. It is not every day that our industry gets to honor our hero’s with a home. Our HBA strength, quality and love was put into this home with so many members and friends that touched this family. More surprises were waiting inside the home for the Poggi family in this whirl wind day of emotions. A full pictorial of this event is throughout this issue. In a 5-4 ruling on June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court declared forced union fees violate the First Amendment rights of government workers. The case, Janus v. AFSCME, is a landmark decision. For decades, government workers in many states were forced to pay fees to government unions as a condition of employment. Under that system, it didn’t matter whether a government worker thought the union represented him or her well. It didn’t matter whether he or she liked the way the union focused on politics. Public sector employees had to pay fees to their unions or risk losing their jobs. That changes with the court’s June 27 ruling. The case, brought by Mark Janus, a child support specialist for the state of Illinois, challenged that unconstitutional scheme, arguing that forcing workers to subsidize unions through mandatory fees violates workers’ First Amendment freedom of speech. The court agreed, ruling that government unions “may no longer extract” fees from “nonconsenting employees.” To do so would violate the First Amendment. Janus was represented in court by the Illinois Policy Institute’s litigation partner, the Liberty Justice Center, as well as the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Government workers will now get to choose for themselves whether they want to financially support their unions. But it won’t happen automatically. Workers will likely need to take the affirmative step of opting out of the union in order to see their paychecks affected. More information can be found at this link to Illinois Policy Institute
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