Friday, September 14, 2012

Wisconsin Collective Bargaining Rights Have Been Unstripped!

I'm a bit late to the party, but late this afternoon, a Wisconsin judge struck down the collective bargaining rights-stripping law, Act 10. Unfortunately, the law is still in place for state workers, but city, county and school workers now have their rights back.

The judge claimed that Act 10 created different classes of workers in part by excluding police and firefighters. The judge found that the state had no reason to limit the wages that these public workers could bargain while allowing other employees to bargain for larger salaries.

The case can still go to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for appeal, but today was a win for democracy and workers rights in Wisconsin. It's just another case that shows Walker and his Tea Party legislators went way too far, creating far too many unconstitutional laws to limit the rights of particular citizens.