On May 1, 2019, nine workers in Illinois government filed a federal class action lawsuit against AFSCME, demanding the union return money taken from their paychecks for union “agency” or “fair share” fees before the Court’s June 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME. If successful, these workers and more than 2,700 other state employees in Illinois could recoup more than $2 million that the union took from them.

The Illinois workers are seeking a refund of union fees paid from May 1, 2017, through June 28, 2018, because this is what is permitted under the Illinois statute of limitations. However, each of these workers and many others have paid much more in illegal union fees over the course of their public service careers.