Appeals Court Upholds Wisconsin Union Law

Reverses lower court ruling striking it down

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's 2011 legislation curbing the collective bargaining rights of some public unions and not others was upheld in its entirety by a U.S. appeals court panel.

In a 74-page decision issued today, in which one of the three judges dissented in part, the Chicago-based court reversed a Milwaukee federal judge's finding last year that portions of the law were unconstitutional.

The parts of the law known as Act 10, requiring annual recertification votes and barring the voluntary deduction of dues, don't violate U.S. constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law and free speech, the appeals court said.

"We now uphold Act 10 in its entirety," U.S. Circuit Judge Joel Flaum wrote for the majority.