[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 21 (Friday, February 2, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        A THREAT TO LABOR UNIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 29, 2018

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Scott and the 
Congressional Black Caucus for hosting the special order.
  The Janus case is critically important to public employees--many of 
whom are people of color--as well as to the millions of Americans who 
rely on the services these workers provide.
  This is a case originating in my state of Illinois, Janus v AFSCME 
Council 31, an outstanding union that fights relentlessly for working 
families. The case was originally brought by Illinois Governor Bruce 
Rauner, who was found to have no legal standing to bring suit, and who 
then scrambled to find another plaintiff.
  Before becoming Governor, Rauner was chairman of a private equity 
firm, where he put profits ahead of working families' paychecks. As 
Governor, he has made it his number one priority to attack unions, 
including the wages, benefits and well-being of his hardworking AFSCME 
employees.
  Janus is about freedom--not the freedom of Mr. Janus to get the 
benefits of union representation as a free rider--but the freedom of 
workers to join together to bargain for a better deal for their 
families: better wages, better benefits and a better future.

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