Educators hopeful recent Act 10 ruling could lead to law's reversal

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Educators are optimistic this week's ruling on parts of Act 10 could lead to greater gains for public sector unions.

On Wednesday, a Dane County judge ruled some parts of Act 10 are unconstitutional.

A retired teacher union representative told us teachers were much worse off after Act 10 was enacted, and by extension, so were students.

The 2011 law eliminated collective bargaining rights for most public workers. But now after this week's ruling, some people are hopeful for a reversal.

Mary Mann is a retired educator and teacher union president. She told us of the ruling, "My guess is, yes, it's going to have a huge impact."

Mann profoundly felt the impact of Act 10 when it was implemented in 2011. She said, "I couldn't move up ever again. And so the only raises I got were whatever cost of living we got, if we got it. Because, of course, you couldn't negotiate anything above cost of living."

The recently retired high school French teacher said it affected the personal finances of tens of thousands of teachers. "You have freezing of salaries, you've got adding more to your pension, you've got higher insurance costs, and then now, you no longer have to justify how to pay a teacher."

And she said Act 10 also devastated morale. "We have seen a decline in the number of people in the state who want to go into education. We've seen an increase in the number of teachers leaving education."

The law created two classes of public employees: public safety employees and general employees.

Unions representing public employees filed a lawsuit in November 2023, and this week Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled the two classes are unconstitutional.

He said jobs that do essentially the same work were separated into different classes, so Act 10 "violates their rights to equal protection under the law."

State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly said in a statement issued after the ruling, "The right to organize one’s co-workers into a union, and then collectively bargain, is a fundamental American right."

She added, "Act 10 was used to justify massive cuts in school funding that continue to cause challenges to this day."

Act 10 sparked months of protest. Then-Governor Scott Walker survived a recall challenge. Act 10 has survived several legal challenges since.

Mann said, "A lot of people hoped if the state government changed hands, that we may be able to repeal Act 10."

Now, Mann said, there is optimism among union members that this ruling will eventually lead to the end of Act 10.