Appeals court upholds Wisconsin’s right-to-work law (UPDATE)

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By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court upheld the state’s right-to-work law on Tuesday, handing Gov. Scott Walker a victory by reversing a lower-court ruling that had struck down the law he championed as unconstitutional last year.

The 3rd District Court of Appeals rejected a challenge brought by three unions — the AFL-CIO’s Wisconsin chapter, Machinists Local Lodge 1061 and United Steelworkers District 2.

Right-to-work laws prohibit businesses and unions from reaching agreements that require all workers, not just union members, to pay union fees. Since unions are often bound by contract to represent every employee in a given workplace, the laws essentially allow non-union workers to benefit from union representation for free.

Supporters of right-to-work laws say they give workers the freedom to choose whether to join a union. Opponents say the laws weaken unions by depriving them of the dues from workers who choose not to pay, resulting in lower wages and fewer employee rights.

They also say the Republican-backed law is intended to undermine unions’ political power because unions tend to vote for Democrats.

Walker, a Republican, signed the right-to-work bill into law in March 2015, one of several measures he has enacted as governor that weaken union rights. He’s most well-known for a 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. This year’s state budget, which Walker is expected to sign any day, ends a requirement that workers on state construction projects be paid a prevailing wage, a change also fought by unions.

Last year, Dane County Circuit Judge William Foust sided with the unions and struck down the right-to-work law as unconstitutional, saying it wrongly enabled non-union workers to receive free representation.

His ruling was put on hold by the state appeals court. On Tuesday, the court rejected the unions’ argument, saying unions are bound to represent even those who choose not to pay dues.

“The law merely prohibits anyone from conditioning a person’s employment on the payment of monies designed to cover the costs of performing that duty of fair representation,” the three-judge appeals court said.

Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, who defended the law, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Fred Perillo, attorney for the unions, was out of the office and did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The ruling could be appealed to the state Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a 5-2 majority. In 2014, the Indiana Supreme Court rejected two nearly identical challenges to that state’s right-to-work law. Those lawsuits alleged that the law unconstitutionally required unions to provide services to nonunion workers without compensation.

The challenge shot down by the court of appeals on Tuesday is not the only filed against Wisconsin’s right-to-work law. Locals 139 and 420 of the International Union of Operating Engineers have tried to get the law overturned in federal courts. In July, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed that challenge.

Wisconsin is one of 28 states with a right-to-work law.