Wisconsin’s Largest Teachers Union Confident in Act-10 Challenge

Teachers Union Wants Challenge to go to Supreme Court

Wisconsin’s largest teachers union is not worried about having to wait to get its latest challenge to Act-10 before the Wisconsin's Supreme Court.

The high court on Wednesday declined to hear a direct challenge to Act-10, and instead ordered that a lower court hear the case first.

That means the challenge to Act-10 will first have to go through a conservative-majority appeals court.

Act-10 has faced a series of court challenges after former Gov. Scott Walker signed the last back in 2011.

Both state and federal courts, including a conservative-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court, all ruled that Act-10 was constitutional. That allowed a decade worth of reforms to how public sector unions, most notably teachers unions, could negotiate their contracts.

Those reforms resulted in $31 billion in savings.

But last year, a Dane County judge ruled that Act-10 was unconstitutional because its reforms didn’t apply to every public employee.

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Education Association Council said it is confident the new, liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court will agree with the Dane County judge, Whenever the case gets to the high court.

“While we are disappointed in this delay, we remain confident in the merits of our case, and that the Circuit Court’s decision will be affirmed. We stand strong in our determination to restore the freedom of Wisconsin public service workers to collectively bargain.”

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which is defending Act-10 in the case, said there was no need for the Supreme Court to rush to a hearing.

“There was no need to skip over the Court of Appeals in this case,” WILL’s Lucas Veber said. “The Plaintiffs wrongly seek to overturn a fifteen-year-old law under a legal challenge that has already been tried and rejected elsewhere.”

The court’s order to send the Act-10 challenge through the normal appeal process came on the same day that liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz said she would not recuse herself from the case, whenever it arrives to the high court.

"[The Legislature] fails to cite a single case holding that a judge’s family background and/or past activities can amount to a 'significant personal interest' that disqualify her from participating in a proceeding," Protasiewicz wrote in a statement.

Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol said Protasiewicz should recuse herself because of her past, and public, opposition to Act-10.