Dane County Judge Jacob Frost restored collective bargaining powers for public employees Monday after striking down former Gov. Scott Walker’s landmark legislation Act 10.
Specifically, Frost decided the narrowly defined language in Act 10, such as “public safety employee,” is unconstitutional because it does not explicitly differentiate between differences in a “public safety employee” and “general employee.”
Act 10, a controversial law passed in 2011, restricted general municipal employees from collective bargaining regarding wages and hours. But, the law allowed public safety employees, including certain police and firefighters, to maintain collective bargaining rights under the act.
The law, originally named the “budget repair bill,” sought to repair the budget deficit Wisconsin was facing. Further, Walker argued Act 10 would ensure unions did not restrict the elected officials.
“It was about empowering the people who are duly elected to run our schools and our local governments, to be able to do that,” Walker told Spectrum News in 2021.
Wisconsin was the first state to permit collective bargaining for public employees in 1959 and was the first to eliminate those rights for the same population in 2011 with Act 10, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
In July, Frost ruled that Act 10 violates Wisconsin State’s constitutional equal protection guarantee to public workers because it applies differently to public safety workers than general municipal workers.
The ruling preceded a lawsuit filed by unions representing public-sector employees starting November 2023. Plaintiffs in the case argued Walker’s Act 10 led to a “dire situation” in workplaces, including low wages, poor conditions and employee shortages.
This is not the first lawsuit against Act 10, but judges dismissed previous lawsuits in 2013, 2014 and 2019. But, the act has remained very divisive among Wisconsinites since before its inception. University of Wisconsin professor Michael Childers told Spectrum News in July this lawsuit has likely been more successful than previous cases because it brought forth a specific detail in the law’s implementation, which Frost later declared unconstitutional.
Before Act 10 was ratified in 2011, professionals in public-sector unions, including teachers and healthcare workers, protested at the state Capitol daily. Once ratified, there were efforts to recall Walker, which eventually failed.
In the years following the ratification of Act 10, the Wisconsin Policy Forum reported Wisconsin had the largest decline in its unionized workforce, dropping from 17.8% in 2000 to 7.9% in 2021, 10 years after Act 10 went into effect. Without the ability to collectively bargain, employees struggled to advocate for better wages and took in less money because they were required to pay for more benefits out-of-pocket.
After Frost struck down Act 10, Walker took to X and stated the ruling was “brazen political activism.” Walker also posted on X that collective bargaining is not a right but “an expensive entitlement.” Walker also argued Frost’s decision was politically motivated and failed to acknowledge the “protective occupation participant,” which Walker said defines what a “public safety employee” is, according to his post on X.
