Collective Bargaining in Wisconsin Gets Another Reprieve

by Clyde Weiss  |  May 26, 2011

Today, Wisconsin’s public service workers notched another victory in their fight to protect the basic right to collective bargaining. Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that the state’s Republican-controlled legislature violated Wisconsin’s open meeting law in order to pass Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) anti-worker measure.

“This is a great day for the citizens of Wisconsin because the judge has reaffirmed that lawmakers need to follow their own laws,” says Marty Beil, executive director of AFSCME Council 24. “They tried to jam through destructive changes that took away rights from Wisconsin citizens under the cover of darkness. Judge Sumi correctly noted that nobody is above the law that requires the public’s business to be done in public.”

In March, Sumi issued an order that kept collective bargaining alive until her ruling today. Now, after looking into the law, she has decided that law trumps politics. Nevertheless, it remains up to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to stand up for the rule of law and support her legal ruling. The high court will consider the case on June 6.

Beil said the judge’s ruling “provides legislators an opportunity to act in the interest of citizens instead of blindly following a governor who wants to take away rights from Wisconsinites. If they again side with Walker against their constituents, they are going to have to do it in full daylight and face the consequences of their actions.”

AFSCME activists are already working hard to make sure that those GOP lawmakers who voted for passage – and who are eligible for recall this year – are defeated at the polls, and that the law (if it ultimately is ruled legal) is repealed.