A northwest suburban school employee is suing his labor union, saying he’s being blocked from opting out of membership despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that barred public unions from requiring government employees to pay dues.
Erich Mandel, a diesel mechanic from Palatine, claims in the suit that he tried in August to end his union membership and cease paying dues in the wake of the June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME, a case with Illinois roots that determined public sector workers could no longer be required to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment.
But Mandel’s lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in Chicago, says Service Employees International Union Local 73 continued to collect dues from his paycheck “based solely on a union card that (he) purportedly signed” prior to the Janus ruling, before he had the right to opt out.