Gov. Pat Quinn isn’t pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week in a case bearing his name.
The court ruled in Harris vs. Quinn that home health care workers could not be compelled to pay union dues.
Quinn says being part of a union helps those workers and attracts more qualified home care assistants. “Having in-home care by caretakers that are properly paid, properly trained, is very, very important,” Quinn said. “The ability to have a collective bargaining opportunity and a union has really advanced that cause, and to see the Supreme Court impede that, I think is disappointing.”
The ruling is limited to home health care workers. It’s not clear if the ruling could affect the state’s “fair share” law, which requires state employees who don’t want to join a union to still pay some dues related to collective bargaining, since nonmembers can benefit from that process and are still covered under collective bargaining agreements.