SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner wants cities and villages to join his fight against organized labor.

In an email to mayors across the state, the head of the lobbying organization for municipalities said Rauner has asked for city councils to consider a resolution asking the state to allow local right-to-work zones and to make changes to prevailing wage and workers' compensation laws.

The request is the latest in a series of legal and political maneuvers against unions that Rauner has employed in his first two months in office.

For example, the Republican from Winnetka is pursuing a federal lawsuit through his Turnaround Agenda designed to end mandatory union dues for workers who are covered by bargaining units but are not members of unions.

Rauner also has crisscrossed the state since taking office calling for the creation of local right-to-work zones, in which voters could decide if workers represented by unions in their communities should be forced to join them.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released an opinion last week saying Rauner's concept would violate federal labor law.

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