A Wisconsin judge issued a ruling Dec. 2 that strikes down most of a 2011 state law that stripped public workers of their union rights.
Dane County Circuit Court judge Jacob Frost ruled that the law violates the state constitution because it unfairly exempts police officers and firefighters.
Known as Act 10, the law was promoted by then-governor Scott Walker and led to massive union demonstrations at the state capital and nationwide. It requires unionized public employees to vote every year whether they still want to be unionized, and they only stay union if a majority of workers vote yes, not just a majority of those voting. It also requires public employee unions to negotiate new contracts every year but bars them from negotiating anything but base wages, and it limits raises to inflation unless voters approve higher increases via a referendum. The law decimated public sector unions, which dropped from 50% to 19% of the public sector workforce.
The law’s supporters, including the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, have said they’ll appeal Frost’s ruling. The Wisconsin Supreme Court previously upheld the law in 2014 when conservative justices were in the majority, but Democratic appointees currently have a one-seat majority.
