Challenge to Act 10
A new legal challenge to the Walker era enacted law, Act 10, which limits public sector bargaining rights in Wisconsin, has been filed. Attorneys for seven unions representing teachers and other public employees (including AFT-WI through Local 3220--the Teaching Assistant's Association commonly known as the TAA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) filed the lawsuit last Thursday, November 30. As many of you know, Act 10 has had a devastating impact on union membership in the state of Wisconsin and has removed the right to bargain for base wage increases that exceed the rate of inflation, among other things. And, as many will recall from this previous summer's bargain, the law has made it so that public organizations like MATC can impose wage increases (sometimes much lower than the rate of inflation) without the union's consent.
The battle to overturn this law will be long and difficult. Experts do not believe that this will reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court for at least a year, but we at Local 212 are hopeful that public sector bargaining rights will be restored. In the meantime, stay tuned and at the ready for action!
