In Wisconsin, union ruling affects cops but not most other workers

MADISON - A Wednesday ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court hammers many public employee unions across the country but has a limited effect in Wisconsin, where union powers have been greatly diminished in recent years.

In Wisconsin, the ruling gives police officers and firefighters the ability to stop paying union fees. Teachers, correctional officers and other public workers already had the ability to avoid union fees under Act 10, the 2011 Wisconsin law that all but ended collective bargaining for public workers.

In its 5-4 ruling Wednesday, the court determined unions cannot force workers to pay them fees. For decades, the court had allowed unions to charge fees to workers who chose not to belong to unions because the labor contracts the unions negotiated covered members and non-members alike.

Under Wednesday’s ruling, some public-sector workers will stop paying fees, delivering a financial blow to unions around the country. That, in turn, will reduce the political power of unions, which typically back Democrats in elections.

But public-sector unions in Wisconsin have already been dealt huge setbacks, so Wednesday’s ruling has a much smaller effect here than elsewhere. Under Act 10, most public workers in Wisconsin are not required to pay any union fees. Those unions cannot bargain over anything but wages, and any raises are limited to inflation.

Much of Act 10 did not cover police officers and firefighters — which means Wisconsin officers and firefighters were affected by Wednesday’s decision and granted the ability to stop paying fees.

But representatives of those unions said they did not think they would suffer many effects.

Most Wisconsin firefighters unions already allow firefighters to get out of paying fees if they don’t want to belong to a union, said Tim Hawks, an attorney who represents more than two dozen firefighters unions. Membership has remained strong despite that policy, he said.

Police officers could now get out of paying union fees. But Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said he expected the vast majority of officers to stay in their unions.

That’s because the unions offer services to members that they consider essential, such as assistance if they are investigated for their use of force, Palmer said.

“We believe we’re in a strong position to retain members,” Palmer said.

Lester Pines, an attorney who represents teachers unions, said Wednesday’s decision would hurt unions across the country but would not destroy them.

“The idea that that will be a death knell for public employees unions is just not true,” he said.

In Wisconsin, some teachers unions — particularly in urban areas — have proven effective even though they’ve lost their bargaining power, he said.

“The effect of Act 10 has been to cause unions to shift from a service model to an organizing model, which has had the effect of strengthening many unions,” Pines said.