Federal Judge Refuses To Block Wisconsin Right-To-Work Law

A federal judge has refused a union’s demand to block Wisconsin’s right-to-work law.

The law prohibits businesses and unions from reaching agreements that require all workers, not just union members, to pay union dues. Unions have argued the law enables nonunion members to receive free representation.

Two chapters of the International Union of Operating Engineers filed a lawsuit in May alleging the law amounts to an unconstitutional taking. U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller upheld the law on Monday, citing a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding Indiana’s right-to-work law.

A Dane County judge struck down the Wisconsin law in April, but a state appeals court has reinstated it while it considers state attorneys’ appeal.