Contact: Timothy Meads, Communications Manager, National Right to Work
(703) 770-3364
Today, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the state’s Right to Work law as constitutional and ruled that it will apply to all of Wisconsin’s private employees. The Court noted “the unions have no constitutional entitlement to the fees of non-member employees”, issuing a statement similar to that of the 7th District Court of Appeals this past July.
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys filed an amicus brief in this case in support of the state on behalf of several workers at the District and the Appellate level.
Staff attorneys have also provided free legal assistance to dozens of other workers across Wisconsin facing coercive union bosses skirting the law in the past and attempting to intimidate and harass workers for exercising their right to not join a union.
Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, issued the following statement in the wake of the ruling:
“Wisconsin’s Right to Work law is a win for worker freedom. The constitutionality of Right to Work laws is a long settled question and Wisconsin union officials should stop wasting taxpayer dollars and workers’ dues money in their desperate attempt to restore their power to have workers fired simply for refusing to pay money as a condition of employment. We are happy, but not surprised, that the court rejected the frivolous arguments brought by union officials and ensured that Wisconsin’s private employees will continue to have the choice to labor without being forced to subsidize a union they never asked for and do not want.”
Wisconsin is one of 28 Right to Work states. This decision comes off the heels of West Virginia’s Supreme Court upholding the state’s Right to Work law just last week.
