On April 12, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) signed legislation effectively banning local governments from passing right-to-work ordinances. Public Act 101-0003, titled the “Collective Bargaining Freedom Act,” prohibits local governments from passing ordinances barring employers and labor organizations from entering into collective bargaining agreements that require workers to join unions or pay dues. The law took effect immediately.
Public Act 101-0003 should have minimal practical effect on employers with an Illinois workforce, as union security and dues-checkoff clauses remain a mandatory subject of bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Rather, the passage of the Act appears to be a political statement signaling the return of a progressive agenda in Illinois following Governor Bruce Rauner’s term. Indeed, Governor Pritzker stated that the legislation “makes it abundantly clear that we have turned the page here in Illinois.”1
The Act is consistent with the ruling by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 et al. v. Village of Lincolnshire et al., 905 F.3d 995 (7th Cir. 2018), which held that while the NLRA permits individual states to pass right-to-work laws, it does not permit states to pass that responsibility on to local governments. The Village of Lincolnshire has appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, taking the position that local governments have the right to restrict dues collection and union security agreements between unions and employers. The Supreme Court has yet to decide if it will hear the case.
The scope and reach of right-to-work laws continue to be points of contention in other...
