Madison Teachers, Inc. v. Walker

Labor laws in the State of Wisconsin allowed general public employees to bargain collectively about a wide variety of employment issues. The state legislature enacted Act 10, a labor law that prohibited general public employees and municipal employers from taking part in many collective-bargaining activities. Labor organizations representing municipal public employees of the Madison Metropolitan School District and the City of Milwaukee (local unions) (plaintiffs) filed an action in the trial court against the state governor and members of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (state employment officials) (defendants). The local unions argued that the collective-bargaining prohibitions contained in the act violated the general public employees’ constitutional freedom-of-association rights. The local unions sought summary judgment on the claim that the act violated the general public employees’ freedom of association rights under the Wisconsin Constitution. The state employment officials moved for judgment on the pleadings. The trial judge held that the act violated the general public employees’ rights of free association under the state constitution and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The state employment officials filed notice of appeal. The appeals court certified the case to the state supreme court.