Issue

Workers' Rights

No government worker can be required to pay money to a government union as a condition of working in public service.

Your Voice, Your Dollars

If you work for a public school district, city hall, a state agency, another government body – or any other kind of local, state, or federal government entity – you have the right to decide whether you want to join a union at your workplace. If you decide union membership isn’t for you, then you are not obligated to pay the union at your workplace any kind of dues or fees, and you have the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME to back you up on that.

The Liberty Justice Center represented Mark Janus all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect his right to spend his money how he wants. The decision to join or financially support a union is an important and deeply personal one for anyone who takes a government job. Before deciding whether union membership is right for you, it is important to know what’s at stake and what rights you have.

6 Janus Rights Government Workers Should Know

Download this brochure and take a few minute to review your Janus rights.

Our Cases Fighting For Workers' Rights

Our Fight in the News

The Center Square

Judge Declines CTU’s Motion to Dismiss Financial Audit Lawsuit

March 24, 2026

Dan McCaleb | March 23, 2026 (The Center Square) A Cook County judge on Monday denied a Chicago Teachers’ Union motion for summary judgment and granted plaintiffs’ request to compel discovery in a case over the union’s lack of releasing financial audits to its members. “The court saw through CTU’s...

Crain's Chicago Business

Opinion: Transparency isn’t a political attack — it’s a public obligation

February 20, 2026

Sara Albrecht | February 20, 2026 (Crain’s Chicago Business) Chicago Teachers Union leaders would like the public to believe that recent federal scrutiny of their finances is part of a right-wing conspiracy — an attack on educators, students, and social justice itself. That framing may be effective rally rhetoric. It...

WGN-TV

CTU to cooperate with Congressional inquiry over allegations of missing audits

November 25, 2025

By: Tahman Bradley and Ethan Illers | November 25, 2025 CHICAGO (WGN-TV) – The Chicago Teachers Union is at the center of a Capitol Hill probe and is now cooperating with a Congressional inquiry into its finances regarding whether the CTU has been keeping financial audits from members. The Republican-controlled...

Fox News

Federal probe demands Chicago Teachers Union explain missing financial audits since 2020

November 21, 2025
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is under investigation by the House Education and Workforce Committee for allegedly failing to show how it has spent union members’ money over the past five years, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital....
The74

In New Role, Ryan Walters Takes His Anti-Union Message National

October 29, 2025

By Linda Jacobson (The74 | October 29, 2025) The former Oklahoma chief inherits a battle with few wins for union detractors. Last year, the conservative Freedom Foundation made headlines with a high-profile effort to convince Miami-Dade teachers to dump their union. Ultimately, it flopped: 83% of members voted to stick...

Read Lion

Lawsuit Against Chicago Teachers Union Proceeds, as Observers Seek ‘Full Picture’ of Group’s ‘Radical, Political Spending’

May 21, 2025

Author: Maggie Little (Read Lion)—A judge has allowed a lawsuit against the Chicago Teachers Union to move forward, as the union’s own members have been suing to demand financial transparency. The lawsuit stems from the union’s refusal to release its audits for five years, despite its bylaws requiring it to...