Wisconsin Update: Total Recall

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin got a double dose of bad news on Friday.

First, A federal judge in Wisconsin today struck down part of the state's union-stripping bill. Federal court strikes down parts of Act 10 (pdf of the ruling).

The plaintiff unions challenged three specific provisions of Act 10:

– Restricting the subject of "general employee" unions' collective bargaining to base wages only, and prohibiting fair-share agreements by which nonunion members pay the unions for the benefits won through the unions' efforts.

– Requiring annual re-certification of general employee unions by an absolute majority of all employees in the bargaining unit.

– Prohibiting the automatic deduction of dues and fair-share payments from payroll checks of general employees.

The unions argued all three provisions violated the equal protection clause, and that the ban on automatic dues deduction hampered the workers First Amendment rights.

But Conley found the unions failed to show that the first restriction on broader collective bargaining in place for public safety employees bears no rational relationship to the government's interest in avoiding strikes by those workers.

The fact that those same employees' unions supported Gov. Scott Walker may make the rules look like political favoritism, but Conley said even if it is, it's not enough to make the court use a stricter standard of review.

However, Conley found that the two other changes – annual recertification and a ban on automatic dues deduction – violated the First Amendment rights of the affected workers.

"The court would be remiss not to at least note the likely burden the annual recertification process imposes on the members' speech and association rights," he wrote.

The state's justification for allowing greater bargaining by public safety workers – avoidance of strikes – does not stand up as a rational basis for requiring other public worker unions to annually recertify by absolute majority, and denying them automatic dues deductions, the court said.

Automatic dues deductions for general employee unions should start again at the end of May – barring appeals or higher court rulings that would block or postpone Conley's order.

The court's order came just hours after state election officials ordered a recall election for Walker. That recall effort was sparked by the governor's bill on collective bargaining.

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board also ordered recall elections for Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and three Republican state Senators. The board also ordered a recall election for a fourth Republican state senator, Pam Galloway, but she resigned earlier this month. Depending on potential primaries, the elections will happen May 8 and June 5.

An NBC News/Marist poll in Wisconsin shows voters split over Gov. Walker's recall, with a narrow plurality supporting a Democratic replacement. Once there is a one-on-one contest after the recall primary, the Democratic opposition to Walker will coalesce.

It's game on!

UPDATE: via Greg Sargent:

* Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett jumps into the race to recall Walker, possibly giving Dems a real chance.

* Barrett is already making the vow to restore public employee bargaining rights central to his campaign.