Legal expert says union ruling unlikely to stand

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A labor law expert says he thinks a judge’s ruling overturning Wisconsin’s law repealing most collective bargaining for local government and school district employees will be overturned on appeal.

Marquette University labor law professor Paul Secunda said Monday he thinks Friday’s ruling in Dane County court is a “temporary blip on the screen of this dispute.” Secunda said while the appeal is pending, he expects the ruling will be put on hold.

Secunda said not doing that creates chaos for local governments as unions could argue they need to begin negotiating new contracts.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said he plans to ask a court early this week to put the ruling on hold while it is appealed. The law championed by Gov. Scott Walker was passed last year.

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No rush to the bargaining
table after union ruling

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – There doesn’t appear to be any rush to the bargaining table in the wake of a court ruling that restores the rights of school and local government employees in Wisconsin to negotiate with their employers.

Attorney Lester Pines brought the case on behalf of the Madison teachers union. He said Monday that “everyone is taking their time to make sure they understand the decision and then to figure out what steps they need to take.”

A Dane County judge overturned the 2011 law is it pertains to school and local government workers. The ruling does not affect state employees.