Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Frost struck down more than 60 sections of Wisconsin’s 2011 Act 10 law that curbed collective bargaining rights for public sector unions in a ruling Monday.
Frost’s ruling came after his opinion allowed lawsuits to continue against former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s restrictions on public sector employee union size and power after denying a motion filed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to dismiss the case.
Efforts to overturn the 13-year-old law began in November 2023, when several unions of public employees cited low pay, staffing shortages and poor conditions for work culminating in a “dire situation” in the workplace.
The lawsuit argued that Act 10’s distinction between “general” and “public safety” employees violated equal protection guarantees of the Wisconsin Constitution.
“Public safety” employees, such as police officers and firefighters, were unaffected by the law. For “general” employees, the bill curbed their collective bargaining rights and placed caps on wage increase negotiations to no more than the rate of inflation. Act 10 gave rise to a dramatic decrease in union membership, leading to less power for public servants in larger negotiations.
Frost described the distinction between “general” and “public safety” employees as "irrational.”
"I cannot solve Act 10's constitutional problems by striking the definition of 'public safety employee,' leaving the term undefined and leaving the remainder of the law in place," he wrote in Monday's ruling.
In Monday’s ruling, Frost determined that several sections of Act 55, a follow-up to Act 10 in 2015, were also no longer enforceable.
In a joint statement Monday, plaintiffs in the lawsuit commended Frost’s ruling while also noting it still has to make its way through the court’s system.
"Today's decision is personal for me and my coworkers," conservation warden and AFSCME Local 1215 President Ben Gruber said in a statement. "As a conservation warden, having full collective bargaining rights means we will again have a voice on the job to improve our workplace and make sure that Wisconsin is a safe place for everyone. We realize there may still be a fight ahead of us in the courts, but make no mistake, we're ready to keep fighting until we all have a seat at the table again."
In a separate statement Monday, the Teaching Assistants’ Association (TAA) celebrated the decision and called on the University of Wisconsin-Madison to voluntarily recognize the union.
“The winds of change are blowing in our direction and we urge the university to take note and voluntarily recognize the TAA as the union of graduate workers and be prepared to meet us at the bargaining table,” Daniel Levitin, co-president of the TAA, said.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who has staunchly defended the law, criticized Frost’s ruling in a statement Monday as fruitless.
“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges. Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion. We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal,” Vos said.
Walker called the decision “brazen political activism” on X, saying Frost’s ruling “makes the April 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race that much more important.”
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, applauded Frost’s ruling in a statement Monday.
“This is a crucial step to recognize and restore the rights of hard-working public employees doing the people’s work in every corner of Wisconsin,” Hesselbein said. “There are likely further hurdles ahead and I applaud the resolve of those who have kept up the effort to restore the right to collectively bargain in the state.”
Editor's note: this article was updated at 8:36 p.m. CDT on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, to add a statement from the TAA.
