A Wisconsin circuit judge rejected a request by state officials Monday to put on hold his ruling upending a right-to-work law passed last year.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge William Foust ruled Apr. 8 the state right-to-work law is unconstitutional. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel disagreed with the decision and requested it be put on hold until it can go through appeals. Foust rejected the request.
“I think the factors weigh in favor of maintaining the decision,” Foust said. “I don’t think they weigh in favor of a stay pending appeal.”
Right-to-work has been passed in 25 states and upheld over the decades as a state right under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. The policy outlaws mandatory union dues or fees as a condition of employment. Foust argued Wisconsin’s version of the law equates to the taking of private property because unions are required to represent everyone in a workplace, even if they don’t pay dues.
“We are disappointed our motion for stay in the right-to-work case was denied in Dane County Circuit Court,” Schimel said in a statement. “[We] plan to seek stay in the Court of Appeals, where we feel confident this law will be upheld.”
Unions that get voted in as the exclusive representative for a workplace are required by law to represent all workers regardless of whether they pay dues or not. They can become member-only unions, but then they lose the right to have monopoly privileges over a workplace against other labor groups.
The Wisconsin AFL-CIO, Machinists Local Lodge 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 brought forth the lawsuit. Labor unions generally disagree with right-to-work, claiming it prevents workers from coming together to demand workplace rights. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed the policy into law in March, 2015, despite adamant opposition from the labor movement.
Labor unions launched numerous protests against him throughout the legislative debate. The law only escalated tensions between Walker and labor unions which first arose from a 2011 law known as Act 10. Act 10 allows state employees to choose whether they want to pay union dues. It also requires public unions to hold a renewal vote every couple of years.
Walker has defended the reforms as being beneficial to state residents. The two laws became huge issues for unions when Walker decided to run for president. Walker officially announced his run July 13 but eventually ended it Sept. 21. He proposed a plan Sept. 15 to rein in union power nationally, but unions claim the reforms caused his campaign to fail.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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