Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Union Limits, Restores Collective Bargaining Rights

People protest against a bill that would eliminate collective bargaining rights for many state workers, in Wisconsin, in a 2011 file photo. Andy Manis/AP Photo

Wisconsin public workers and teachers unions scored a major legal victory on Dec. 2 with a ruling that restores collective bargaining rights, which they had lost under a 2011 state law that sparked weeks of protests and turned the state into the focal point of the national battle over union rights.

The law, Act 10, effectively ended the ability of most public employees to bargain on wage increases and other issues, and forced them to pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits.

“I now issue final judgment declaring parts of Act 10 unconstitutional,” Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost said in an 18-page decision.

Under Frost’s ruling, all public-sector workers who lost their collective bargaining power will have it restored to the conditions in place before 2011. They will be treated the same as police, firefighter, and other public safety unions that were exempted under the law.

Unions celebrated the development.

“After 14 years of battling for our collective bargaining rights, we are thrilled to take this step forward. This victory brings us immense joy,” Rocco DeMark, a worker at Racine Unified School District and a worksite leader for SEIU Wisconsin, one of the union plaintiffs, said in a Dec. 2 statement. “Our fight has been long, but we are excited to continue building a Wisconsin where we can all thrive.”

Democrats also welcomed the ruling.

“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,” Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Unions and their supporters said they recognized that the case is not yet over.

Republicans vowed to immediately appeal the ruling, which is likely to eventually go before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, said in a statement. “Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers more than $16 billion. We look forward to presenting our arguments on appeal.”

The law was proposed by then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature as thousands of people engaged in a weeks-long protest at Wisconsin’s Capitol. The law had previously withstood numerous legal challenges.

The seven unions and three union leaders that brought the lawsuit argued that the law should be struck down because it creates unconstitutional exemptions for firefighters and other public safety workers. Attorneys for the Legislature and state agencies countered that the exemptions are legal, that they have already been upheld by other courts, and that the case should be dismissed.

Frost sided with the unions in July, saying the law violates equal protection guarantees in the Wisconsin Constitution by dividing public employees into “general” and “public safety” employees. He ruled that general employee unions, such as those representing teachers, cannot be treated differently than public safety unions that were exempt from the law.

His new ruling delineated the dozens of specific provisions in the law that must be struck.

Walker, a Republican, said on social media platform X that the ruling was “brazen political activism” that made the 2025 race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat more important.

“We want a state where legislators and the Governor make the laws, not the courts!” he said.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is currently composed of three Republican justices and four Democrat justices.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said on X that the ruling was great news.

“I’ve always believed workers should have a seat at the table in decisions that affect their daily lives and livelihoods,“ he said. ”It’s about treating workers with dignity and respect and making sure no worker is treated differently because of their profession.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.