Unions Ask for Judge to Declare Act 10 Unconstitutional   

This week, two public employee unions asked a Dane County Judge to declare Act 10 - the law that curtails public employees' ability to collectively bargain -  unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed by the Madison Teachers Inc. and Public Employees Local 61, AFL-CIO, which represents Milwaukee sanitation workers.

In a motion filed Tuesday, the unions argue the new law - approved in March by Governor Scott Walker and Republicans who control the Legislature - violates the state constitution's guarantees of freedom of association and equal protection.  The motion also says the law violates the state constitution's home-rule provision that gives the City of Milwaukee the ability to run its own pension system. The motion also says that Act 10 violates a settlement over the city's pension system (www.jsonline.com).

Act 10 eliminates most collective bargaining for most public workers, but it does allow for unions to negotiate over wage increases but nothing else. The wage increases, however, are capped at the rate of inflation, unless voters approve higher raises in a referendum. There is no cap on wage increases for nonunion employees. The unions in their motion argue that treating the two sets of employees differently violates the equal-protection clause of the state constitution.

When asked this week about the unions' lawsuit, Governor Walker said he believes that Act 10 is not unconstiutional. It is expected that a judge will rule on the unions' lawsuit in the next few months (www.jsonline).