Judge voids some curbs on Wis. public unions

Judge voids some curbs on Wis. public unions

A federal judge has invalidated parts of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's controversial law that restricts collective-bargaining rights of most public unions, the Wisconsin State Journal says.

District Judge William M. Conley ruled that the state could not require a recertification vote every year for some public-employee unions but not all, and could not ban unions from collecting dues. The law exempted public-safety unions, which backed the election of Walker, a Republican.

"So long as the state of Wisconsin continues to afford ordinary certification and dues deductions to mandatory public safety unions with sweeping bargaining rights, there is no rational basis to deny those rights to v oluntary general unions with severely restricted bargaining rights," Conley wrote in his injunction (pdf).

"This is not an ordinary case in any number of respects, but it is ordinary in the sense that political favoritism is no grounds for heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection clause" of the U.S. Constitution," he continued.

Conley, who was nominated by President Obama and confirmed in 2010, did, however, uphold Act 10 limits on what issues can be bargained. Seven general unions challenged the law, passed last year.

Walker's office had no immediate comment on the ruling, which came the same day that election officials certified the June 5 election to recall him.

The Milwaukee Journa l-Sentinel has details about and reaction to the ruling.