Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds collective bargaining crackdown, in victory for Walker

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Watchdog:

MADISON, Wis. — After three years of legal battles, the war for Gov. Scott Walker’s cornerstone public-sector collective bargaining reforms is over, with the state Supreme Court on Thursday upholding Act 10 in its entirety.

 

Altogether, it was a big day for conservative causes. Wisconsin’s high court also ruled in favor of the state’s controversial voter ID law, but that matter is far from settled.

 

The Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, with liberal Judge Patrick Crooks begrudgingly agreeing Act 10 is constitutional, put an exclamation point of approval on the public employee labor law that sent thousands protesters to the state Capitol and 14 Democratic senators fleeing across the state line in a bid to stop it.

 

All but one liberal Dane County judge had concluded Act 10, which holds wage negotiations to the rate of inflation, ends automatic union dues deductions, and requires annual union recertification votes, meets constitutional muster.

 

The lawsuit was originally brought by Madison Teachers Inc. and Public Employees Local 61, AFL-CIO.

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Walker wins again...

[Valin]

Scott Walker Hates Children!

[Valin]

Unions Lose and the Public Wins Big in Wisconsin
Hans von Spakovsky
August 04, 2014

 

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin had quite a good day on July 31 when the state supreme court not only upheld Wisconsin’s voter ID law, but also issued an opinion upholding the hallmark legislation of the governor: his 2011 budget bill that severely curtailed the power of public unions to control the lives and salaries of state and municipal government employees.

This was also good news for the rights of individual public employees and taxpayers in Wisconsin.

 

In Madison Teachers, Inc. v. Walker, a majority of the court overturned a lower court decision that had enjoined various parts of the law, and upheld it in its entirety. The 2011 law (Act 10) prohibited public unions from bargaining on issues other than base wages; prohibited municipalities from deducting union dues from the paychecks of public employees; imposed annual recertification requirements for unions; and prohibited any union agreement that would require employees who are not members of a union from having to pay union dues. Various unions, including the AFL-CIO, challenged these provisions, claiming they violated their associational rights under the First Amendment and their equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

 

(Snip)

 

Similarly union seniority systems meant that Wisconsin schools had to lay off the newest teachers first—no matter how well they taught. In 2010 Megan Sampson won statewide recognition for excellence as a first-year English teacher. A week later Milwaukee Public Schools laid her off because the union contract required her to be let go first. That system benefited senior union members at the expense of new hires and children who need the best education possible. Act 10 eliminated this restriction. Wisconsin school districts can now hire and fire on the basis of what works best for the children, not the union members. Act 10 means the government can serve the public instead of unions.