Portions Of Scott Walker's Anti-Union Law Struck Down By Federal Court

WASHINGTON -- Just over a year after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) signed a measure taking away most collective bargaining rights for public workers, labor unions scored a victory as a federal court struck down portions of the law. The court ruled that the state cannot prevent public sector unions from automatically deducting dues from workers' paychecks and cannot require them to be recertified annually.

The law, known as Act 10, requires most public sector unions to hold annual votes on whether a majority of its members want to recertify the union. It also took away the rights of some unions to automatically collect dues from members' paychecks.

The court kept most of the law in place, but it ruled that the state did not have the power to pick and choose which unions could deduct dues. Under Act 10, only "public safety unions" -- those representing firefighters and police officers -- could continue to take out payments automatically.

"So long as the State of Wisconsin continues to afford ordinary certification and dues deductions to mandatory public safety unions with sweeping bargaining rights, there is no rational basis to deny those rights to voluntary general unions with severely restricted bargaining rights," the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin concluded.

The decision added that the state of Wisconsin had "apparent, if not actual, favoritism and entanglement in partisan politics by discriminating in favor of fundraising efforts on behalf of public safety unions over general employee unions."

U.S. District Judge William Conley rejected the argument that Act 10 violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, but he ordered the state to "return to automatic dues deductions for all members of public unions no later than May 31, 2012."

The case was brought last summer by a group of unions, including the Wisconsin Education Association Council, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin.

"While we're pleased that Scott Walker's transparent attempts to destroy his political opponents have been ruled illegal under the First Amendment, this ruling only raises the stakes for the upcoming recall elections," said Kelly Steele, spokesman for the labor coalition We Are Wisconsin. "The reality remains Walker lied his way into office by concealing plans to wipe out 50 years of collective bargaining, and the fight continues until workers rights' to negotiate for fair wages and safe working conditions are fully restored."

Walker's office did not return a request for comment.

(Read the full opinion here.)

Comments

[Craig Schultz]

04:45 PM on 09/21/2012

Moodys has just downgraded counties', cities' and municipalities' credit rating to a minus meaning their likelihood of borrowing will be next to 0.

Dane County, of which the judge in the case is a Circuit judge of, hasn't had a balanced budget since Kathleen Falk was first at the helm in 1997, is going to find it hard to find anyone to loan the county money, as are jurisdictions across the state.

No money beyond revenue means cuts in services and staff, including employees of all types.

Also, having a negative debt rating means businesses are less likely to want to (re)locate in Wisconsin due to the uncertainty that the jurisdiction in which they may have planned to locate in will be able to maintain the services in place at any given time.

[Dovescorner]

05:55 PM on 09/14/2012

Not Good for Walker and his fake Victory. When will they learn folks have a right to assemble and exercise freedom of speech

[Craig Schultz]

04:47 PM on 09/21/2012

Fake victory?

Yeah, right!

Only twice the number of votes that Tom Barret had.

Beyond that, a persons right to assemble and exercise free speech ends when the exercise of either becomes destructive or harassing.

[Recall Walker]

01:05 PM on 08/05/2012

This man is a menace. We deserve what we get by reelecting this idiot. God help us.

[Craig Schultz]

04:48 PM on 09/21/2012

And, reelected at TWICE the number of votes of Barret.

It seems the people of Wisconsin's opinion was counted and heard.

[kateslate]

10:28 PM on 04/03/2012

Does anybody remember when the conservatives' beloved Ronald Reagan called unions "one of the most elemental humans rights." Ronald Reagan, yes, THAT Ronald Reagan.

Yes, your dear Ronald Reagan was, indeed, once a Union Boss!

Goldwater's wife was big on Planned Parenthood.

[Rogr1667]

09:21 PM on 04/03/2012

Walker's cozy relationship with the Koch's should make any sensible person take pause before supporting anything he promotes.
The same folk who constantly accuse Obama of underhandedness and deceit will wholeheartedly support a two-faced sell-out con with every breath. Makes no sense at all.

[Ben Wilson]

11:57 AM on 04/02/2012

There's a reason all the rich geezers work over time to make us hate unions as much as they do. It's a shame most poor people are stupid.

[pg9769]

09:43 PM on 04/01/2012

"The court ruled that the state cannot prevent public sector unions from automatically deducting dues from workers' paychecks " - So unions now have more power than the state... And collective bargaining is a right? And the governor cannot control government employee wages????? Let me repeat: The governor (head of state) cannot control government worker paychecks?? Bogus. Public workers need to realize if private workers are losing money, they do too. Let's all remember who pays for the public sector - - - The PRIVATE Sector.

[HawaiianLady]

02:16 PM on 04/02/2012

I've seen banana oil spread around in my time, but none so blatantly crazy. People have more power than the state, and should. Collective bargaining is a God-given inalienable right. The governor can no more control government employee wages than the CEO of GE can declare himself chief controller. Go get some education.

[Cheryl2]

03:25 PM on 04/02/2012

Actually the governemnt in Wisconsin HAS controlled the teachers wages for the last 25 years (the only group that has been targeted in the past by republicans as being "thugs"), by passing a law that states we may not have raises over a certain percent and our raises must go toward paying for benefits first, and then we may get a monetary raise. Needless to say teachers we have not had increases in wages over 1% for those 25 years, and they just took away about 30 years worth of benefits. Wisconsin is a terrible place to work if you teach.

[ennis438]

03:03 PM on 04/01/2012

All. not some, of this anti- American and anti-worker legislation proposed by Walker should be thrown out . Then, Mr Walker himself should be next. He has proved that he only cares about fatcats and not the citizens of Wisconsin.

[nuppup]

08:29 PM on 04/01/2012

There is anti-union legislation. Only legislation that allows public service unions members and their employers to fairly negotiate.

[Cheryl2]

03:26 PM on 04/02/2012

??? You make no sense.

[quillerm]

01:13 PM on 04/01/2012

The parts that were not supported are trivial at best. Re-certification of Union status and paycheck deductions are not earth shattering components of Walkers legislation. But they would have offered some individual protections to workers over Union Bosses.

[Cheryl2]

03:29 PM on 04/02/2012

It was the most important to Walker because his entire goal was to end unions funding of democrats, and this allows the unions to keep funding in place. It had nothing at all to do with wages and benefits, which for teachers have been dictated by state law for about 25 years.

[Joshua Klotz]

12:06 PM on 04/01/2012

It is such a joke that unions, let alone public unions, can force employees to pay union dues without their consent. The fact that a court said it is OK for a third party to a person, and their employer, to take money from the individual without their consent is incredibly immoral. Unions should not be able to coerce citizens into paying for the ability to be employed. This ruling simply continues to allow what essentially amounts to stealing to further a political agenda.

[Minnesota Black]

02:08 PM on 04/01/2012

I have worked at several union jobs, including being part of SIEU currently. Nobody ever coerced me to take any of these jobs. They just happen to pay better, and have better benefits, than a lot of non-union jobs.

[drwtsn]

04:59 PM on 04/01/2012

I've had two union jobs. The first I left because there wasn't a great chance for advancement, though the pay was good, plus I was young and decided that it was time to move on.

The second time I was held back (I had a lot more education than most) by seniority issues, though management was able to prevent laying me off one time by opening up a job at a higher level that I was uniquely qualified for. I was eventually laid off, twice, and the third time I was called back I had landed a promising job so decided to stick with the non-union job.

Things worked out pretty good, but 15 years later I was laid off because the company was trying to cut expenses, and I was one of the higher paid workers since I had been with the company so long. Luckily, I had prepared for such an eventuality and am for all purposes "retired" (5 to 15 years earlier than planned), but if it had happened six years earlier we may have ended up homeless.

I have nothing but good things to say about unions. Even when I was in non-union jobs I still enjoyed most of the benefits that union workers fought and died for, and while in union jobs my pay allowed me to pay off debts that otherwise might still be hanging over my head.

Union jobs may not be for everyone, but unions benefit everyone.

[Joshua Klotz]

06:20 PM on 04/01/2012

Right, no one forced you to take those jobs. The point is that it is immoral for a third party to require that you pay them money as a condition for employment.

[kateslate]

03:17 PM on 04/01/2012

They can always go work for minimum wage for a company that fights safety regulations at every turn. People always have choices not to work pursue a union job.

What gets me is that these people pushing all this outrageous legislation did not mention that this would be their course of action prior to their being elected into office. They ran on one set of issues, and then ignored those issues and pursued a different agenda altogether.

Liar, crooks and cheats.

[eLucida]

02:09 PM on 04/02/2012

R E C A L L

[John Sheffield]

10:46 AM on 04/01/2012

Yet another case of a politician picking and choosing when he wants laws to apply. It was an incredibly transparent attempt on Walker's part to not only destroy Unions and worker's rights, but to turn Organized labor against itself. Isn't it interesting that he tried to "keep the guns on his side?"

Oh by the way, on the national economic scene this just in: "It was the biggest first-quarter gain for the Dow and S&P 500 since 1998, while the Nasdaq logged its best first quarter since 1991." (According to CNN and other reporting agencies). Many of the profits made as a result of Union workers and the common every day American worker spending their hard earned dollars to survive.

[quillerm]

01:15 PM on 04/01/2012

Walker's Legislation gave workers some basic protections from Union Bosses. It has nothing to do with workers rights, but gives more power of intimidation to Union Bosses.

[kateslate]

03:18 PM on 04/01/2012

If workers don't like their union, they are welcome to seek employment elsewhere.

[shaunmarie]

07:34 AM on 04/02/2012

Unlike our governors and legislators, Union Bosses are democratically elected.

[artomus]

10:21 AM on 04/01/2012

It is time to send this slime back to whatever slime place he came from. It is time for the people of Wisconsin to redeem themselves, and throw him out and not be slimes to..I used to go to Wisconsin a lot for vacations.But i will never go there again until the people there become humans again and throw this slime in the sewer where he belongs.

[Joshua Klotz]

03:58 PM on 04/02/2012

Yeah, its time to throw the slimy and greedy union bosses out too. The ones who are allowed to legally extort money from people because they give some other people a nice kickback.

[buckydumpster]

10:10 AM on 04/01/2012

Republicans will not rest until they have eliminated all opposition, minimum wage, social security, The EPA, public education, unions, and any progressive reform not mentioned above. We are nothing but baby-machine consumer fodder.

[jpjgamas]

09:57 AM on 04/01/2012

With the unions taking back control of the state house in Wisconsin, Wisconsinites better resolve themselves the doubling their taxes to pay for the highly paid state workers pensions and living arrangements. Wisconsin will see the state lose large corporations to states that have no forced unionization. How soon will Wisconsin be begging for Federal money to pay their debt?

[buckydumpster]

10:22 AM on 04/01/2012

No stretch here. Double taxes! Why not say triple and add "the sky will fall" along with mass hysteria, dogs and cats sleeping together!

[Scribe57]

10:26 AM on 04/01/2012

Basically all the worst parts of the Bible.

[Timothy Thocher]

10:58 AM on 04/01/2012

dont forget the implementation of sharia law, by communist facists gay muslim baby killers.

[Cheryl2]

03:36 PM on 04/02/2012

OH MY GOD! PLEASE DON"T SCARE ME ANYMORE!

In actuality Walker is rapidly increasing the state debt at a faster pace then ever before,even though he dropped union compensation by 10,000 a year or more, per person. That is what happens when you take away from the people and give it all to big business, which is exactly what Walker did.

[Joshua Klotz]

03:59 PM on 04/02/2012

This is factually incorrect.

[seven77plan]

09:51 AM on 04/01/2012

Lil Scott got handed a Pepsi !!!!!!