Portside

Wisconsin public workers have won a major legal victory with a ruling that restores collective bargaining rights they lost under Act 10, a 2011 state law forced through by then Governor Scott Walker. Seven unions and 3 labor leaders filed the suit.

Dennis Boyer, a retired AFSCME staff member, believes that the unions in Wisconsin need to be much more aggressive in their fightback. This should include consideration of the use of a general strike.

Wisconsin prosecutors have alleged that Gov. Scott Walker was part of a wide-ranging “criminal scheme” to coordinate the activities of conservative groups that spent millions to help him and other Republicans fend off recall efforts.

If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of a lawsuit filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, every state in the country would essentially turn into an anti-union "right to work" state, which would be a significant blow to public sector unions' collective bargaining efforts and also complicate thousands of existing contracts between organized workers and municipalities, cities, counties, and states across the country.