Illinois public school teachers can opt out of union membership and stop paying dues in August. But union misinformation is spread to keep them in.
Thousands of Illinois teachers have opted out of their unions in recent years.
But union myths keep many teachers from knowing the truth about how their unions spend money and what it means to opt out of membership.
Here are three things unions don’t want their members to know:
- Teachers unions admit in their own federal filings to spending little on representing teachers.
- Employers must treat everyone the same, regardless of union membership.
- Government unions wrote the laws that require them to represent all workers, so their claims of “free riders” are false.
Interested in opting out? Read on for information the union doesn’t want you to know.
Teachers’ unions admit in their own federal filings to spending little on representing teachers
Illinois teachers unions spend very little on representing teachers.
That’s by the unions’ own accounting. Each year, the unions report the amount of money they spend by category in a filing with the U.S. Department of Labor. The unions themselves determine what gets categorized as spending for “representational activities,” “administration” or other purposes. The forms are signed under penalty of perjury.
Those reports are telling.
In 2024, just 15% of the Illinois Education Association’s spending was on “representational activities,” which the U.S. Department of Labor defines as including the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement and the administration and enforcement of the resulting contract. In other words, what is supposed to be a union’s core purpose is a very low priority.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers and its Chicago affiliate, the Chicago Teachers Union, didn’t do much better. In 2024, just 26% of IFT’s spending and 20% of CTU’s money went toward representing teachers.
The unions would like teachers to think they are spending massive amounts of money representing teachers, but the numbers don’t lie – and they reported those numbers.
Employers must treat nonmembers and members the same
Section 3(a) of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act provides that education employees have the right to organize or join a union. But it also guarantees their right to “refrain from any or all such activities.”
That means employers cannot discriminate against any employee based on union membership. Employers also cannot base hiring decisions on an applicant’s plans for joining or not joining the union.
What’s more, Section 3(b) requires the union to be the “exclusive representative of all the employees” in the bargaining unit. That means employees in a bargaining unit must receive the benefits provided in the collective bargaining unit, regardless of their union membership. The collective bargaining agreement covers all employees, not just those who are members.
That includes salaries and raises, health insurance, pension provisions, vacation time, seniority and more. If it’s in the collective bargaining agreement, it’s guaranteed to nonmembers just as much as it is to members.
Government unions wrote the laws that require them to represent all workers
The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act both hold that a union representing government workers in a bargaining unit is the “exclusive representative” of those workers. That means the union – and no one else – can represent those workers. That applies to members and nonmembers.
That was a monopoly chosen by the unions themselves. Some of the state’s biggest government unions registered their support for the legislation creating the laws.
But IEA and IFT went even farther. Those unions helped draft the bill that would become the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act.
Government unions could change that. They are a powerful force in Illinois and could instigate legislative change to remove themselves as the exclusive representative of all employees. Instead, they stymie efforts to allow nonmembers to represent themselves, forcing those nonmembers to accept the unions’ representation.
That means nonmembers aren’t “free riders,” as unions claim, but are forced riders. While they do not have to pay fees to a union, they are still forced to accept union representation regardless of whether they want that representation.
Teachers have other options
Illinois public school teachers interested in opting out of their unions can obtain the paperwork and learn more at the opt-out website for their union:
- For education employees represented by an affiliate of the Illinois Federation of Teachers: LeaveIFT.com.
- For education employees represented by an affiliate of the Illinois Education Association: LeaveIEA.com.
- For education employees represented by the Chicago Teachers Union: LeaveCTU.com.
But time is short. Most teachers unions will only stop deducting dues if teachers opt-out in August, so now is the time to assert your independence and keep your pay in your paycheck.
