MADISON, Wis. – A Dane County judge issued a decision Friday blocking Wisconsin officials from enforcing a law barring labor contracts that require workers to pay union fees.
The order by Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust comes a week after he ruled the measure, known by advocates as a right-to-work law, violated the state constitution.
GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel has promised to appeal, but he couldn’t do that until Foust entered Friday’s order.
Schimel had said he wanted Foust to put his ruling on hold while he pursues an appeal. Foust didn’t do that, but wrote in Friday’s ruling he would hear Schimel out on that point when he files a motion for a stay.
But Foust also made clear he believes the unions are being deprived of an important right under the new labor law, known as 2015 Act 1.
“The right of the union to be paid for the work it performs is not trivial,” Foust wrote. “Act 1 makes it a crime for the union to require someone to pay for the services he or she receives from the union. Enjoining the attorney general and the state from pursuing criminal prosecutions is appropriate relief.”
In a statement, Schimel said he would ask Foust on Monday to stay his ruling while he pursues an appeal.
“I am confident the law ultimately will be upheld and Wisconsin will remain a right-to-work state,” Schimel said in his statement.
The case is expected to be ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court, which is controlled 5-2 by conservatives.
Fred Perillo, a lawyer for the unions challenging the law, praised Friday’s order as a well-reasoned decision that champions the idea that the government can’t take property without compensation.
“It is the type of decision that should appeal to conservatives on the court,” he said.
Wisconsin is one of 26 states with right-to-work laws, which bar businesses and unions from signing labor deals that require workers to pay union fees. The laws in all the other states have withstood legal challenges.
Supporters of the law say people shouldn’t have to pay fees if they choose not to join a union. Unions are required to represent all employees in a work unit and they say they should be able to collect fees from everyone who benefits from the higher wages and job protections they provide.
Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature approved the law last year. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Machinists Local Lodge 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2 sued soon afterward.
Foust’s ruling last week concluded the law violates the state constitution’s prohibition on taking property without fair compensation. That’s because the law interferes with the unions’ ability to generate revenue from all the workers it protects, Foust found.
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