Illinois Policy Institute targets union members

The IPI recently sent a mailing to 400,000 public employees in Illinois—teachers, firefighters, correctional officers, highway maintainers, social workers, nurses, and so many others—pushing them to drop out of their union.

The IPI claims they just want to help public employees by making them aware of their rights. But the real IPI is a shadowy, billionaire-backed front group that’s been beating up on public employees for years now—pushing to abolish public pensions, eliminate our jobs, cut our wages and benefits. They’ve been Bruce Rauner’s biggest cheerleaders in his crusade to wipe out unions in the public sector and were behind the recent Janus case. In fact, Mark Janus is now on their payroll.

The IPI’s goal is clear: They want members to quit their unions so working people won’t have the resources to make the big fights—protecting their livelihoods, challenging anti-union politicians like Rauner, and fighting for their rights on the job.

AFSCME members aren’t falling for it. They see right through IPI’s phony claim that if they can keep the same level of wages and benefits even if they drop out of the union.

Members want to continue to have decent wages, affordable health care, sick and vacation time, benefits that improve their lives, safe working conditions, protections against unfair treatment on the job, access to promotions, and all the other vital rights provided by a union contract and by the laws unions have helped to enact.

That’s why AFSCME members are putting that IPI mailer—and any others that come along—right where it belongs. In the trash bin.