ST. CLAIR COUNTY — A federal judge in southern Illinois has ruled in favor of unions attempting to block Gov. Bruce Rauner’s fair share fee plan, but three state employees have filed their own suit Monday challenging the law that forces them to pay union dues even when they aren’t in a union.

The union lawsuit was filed in response to one Rauner filed in Chicago, seeking to have the fair share fees declared unconstitutional. The court opinion can be read here.

The unions claim in their response to Rauner’s federal suit that the matter belonged in state court. The unions also filed another suit in state court in St. Clair County challenging the legality of the governor’s refusal to transmit fair share fees to the unions.

The governor then asked a federal court in southern Illinois to take the case from the county court. That federal court refused his request today, saying essentially that a state issue belongs in a state court.