CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A group of Illinois state government workers is filing suit against the union AFSCME, demanding their money back.
It was last year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the landmark Janus case that said labor unions could not collect fees from non-union workers, even though those workers enjoyed benefits negotiated by the union.
Now comes a lawsuit by some Illinois state workers who want a refund for the fees they paid before the Janus decision.
“We just want our money back,” Mark Janus, the plaintiff in the original lawsuit and a spokesman for the conservative group Liberty Justice Center, said Wednesday.
Anders Lindall, AFSCME spokesman, said the plaintiffs are trying to "go back in time."
He said the past fees were “lawfully paid by non-members who benefited from our representation."
The plaintiffs said they want refunds of about $2 million for roughly 2,700 workers.
The question: Is the Supreme Court ruling in last year's Janus ruling retroactive?
Patrick Hughes, the cofounder and president of the Liberty Justice Center, said the ruling should be.
He said this lawsuit will follow the path of the original Janus lawsuit.
"We lost in the district court and ultimately in the 7th circuit and ultimately were successful in the United States Supreme Court. We feel that ultimately the Supreme Court will decide this issue."
Countered AFSCME’s Lindall: "The only way that these corporate front groups have a chance is to get before what they regard as a political Trump-appointed Supreme Court that will make a decision based on anti-worker ideology rather than the facts and the law."