Readies scorched-earth assault

Organized labor readies scorched-earth assault on Rauner

The Illinois Republican governor who sparked the Janus ruling faces political blowback.

By NATASHA KORECKI

The blockbuster Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision handed down Wednesday is already shaping Bruce Rauner’s legacy as Illinois governor. But it also threatens to end his political career.

From the time Rauner first announced he would pursue the 2015 case that could financially cripple public sector unions — he was ultimately removed as a plaintiff by a judge for lack of standing — organized labor here has been on high alert.

Now, in the wake of the high court ruling stemming from that policy, Illinois unions — public and private — are committed to doing whatever it takes to send Rauner packing in November. And they say they’re more unified and strategically coordinated than ever.

Unions already stepped up political fundraising efforts and in anticipation of an unfavorable ruling, worked to increase recruitment and lock down membership, which stands at more than 628,000 in the Illinois public sector alone.

But this week, they delivered a far more strategic blow: helping to secure the candidacy of a viable third party gubernatorial candidate who will challenge Rauner from the right in November.

The presence of state Sen. Sam McCann on the ballot threatens to dilute support in key Republican-oriented areas Rauner needs to dominate if he’s to have a fighting chance in November in this solidly blue state. Rauner already had little room for error in his uphill reelection fight against billionaire Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

“This governor has proven that he’s antithetical to what most people believe in. It is not hard to get our members motivated,” Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery said Wednesday of his 100,000 members.

Rauner’s policies — including a failed attempt to instill right to work areas in the state, and a prolonged budget fight that delivered a blow to higher education funding — are in part what’s motivated a 600 percent jump in attendance at the IFT’s regional political action meetings across the state.

Typically, dozens of people at most, might have shown up to those meetings in the past. Then, Montgomery said, hundreds of people began attending.

“That shows more engagement, more awareness and more involvement,” he said. “There’s a high interest and motivation, higher than I’ve seen since I’ve been in this position.”

The high court ruling in favor of Illinois worker Mark Janus dictated that public employees cannot be compelled to pay union dues, putting a significant dent in organized labor’s ability to raise revenue.

While Rauner, a multimillionaire, has always had the resources to compete on the airwaves and on the ground in a reelection campaign that’s headed toward record spending levels, the governor now faces a unified and highly motivated labor movement with the proven ability to turn out voters in the fall.

McCann, a Republican who hails from a heavily unionized district, defied Rauner on legislative votes involving organized labor, then went on to survive a multi-million dollar attempt by Rauner to take him out in a local primary.

Rewarding McCann’s loyalty, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 bankrolled an onerous petition collection that involved a year’s worth of planning, thousands of foot soldiers and intensive legal resources to get him on the gubernatorial ballot.

The endeavor was a heavy lift that required collecting more than 25,000 valid signatures without duplicating petition circulators from the primary. On Monday, the union helped deliver more than 60,000 signatures, and went so far as to verify 35,000 of them just to make sure McCann made the threshold.

“Sam McCann is not going to get knocked off this ballot,” IUOE Local 150 President James Sweeney said.

McCann threatens to erode Rauner’s support in central and southern Illinois, areas that proved crucial to the governor’s election in 2014. Sweeney said many of his own members, 50 percent of whom identify as Republican, previously voted for Rauner. The intent now is to give those members a pro-union Republican choice.

“If Republicans were to win in this election, it will be with McCann, not with Rauner. We cannot take four more years of Bruce Rauner.”

Still, there was one potential political bright spot for Rauner on Wednesday as he stood on the U.S. Supreme Court steps to claim a policy victory that he called a major win for taxpayers. The ruling stands to revive enthusiasm for Rauner among a conservative base the governor alienated with his backing of a law providing public financing of abortion.

Rauner managed to at least temporarily mend fences with John Tillman, director of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute and a political operative whose group served as the driving force behind the Janus case.

President Donald Trump, who made no mention of the governor, offered public support of the decision.

“Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who control the Union deciding for them,” Trump said in a tweet. “Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!”