A Wisconsin judge handed a major legal win to Badger State public union workers on Monday, restoring their collective bargaining rights after a 13-year-old law renounced them.
Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost ruled on Monday that certain sections of Act 10 violated the Wisconsin Constitution. Also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, the law was signed by then-Governor Scott Walker in 2011 with the goal of cutting state costs.
The legislation strictly limited compensation for state employees and took away collective bargaining rights from state union workers, causing national controversy at the time and fueling protests for weeks.
Wisconsin labor unions argued that Act 10 limited their ability to organize and right to speak under the First Amendment. In his ruling, Frost wrote that several portions of the law were created “without a rational basis.”
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“This gets to the heart of the Court’s July Decision – the unconstitutional creation of the ‘public safety employee’ group and differential treatment of it without a rational basis – so I strike these sections,” Frost wrote, according to FOX 6 Milwaukee.
The decision was met with mixed reactions from Wisconsin legislators. Democrats praised the move, while Republicans expressed fiscal concerns about the decision.
“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Wisconsin State Assembly speaker Robin Vos said, per FOX 6. “Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion. We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal.”
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Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy told FOX 6 that he supported the move as a former educator.
“I was a teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools during Act 10 thirteen years ago,” Clancy said. “I saw firsthand the negative impact that the lack of collective bargaining had not only on our profession of teaching but also the schools, students, and our communities.
“I am thrilled that the decision of Judge Jacob Frost will restore power to workers and the larger community. This is a crucial step to ensuring that every Wisconsin worker has access to fair and equitable working conditions.”
The decision came after Act 10 endured years of disputes in both state and federal courts. In 2014, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the law in a 5-2 decision.
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