Fighting dirty in the courts: They don’t like it up ’em

Whodathunkit? A labor-sympathetic judge has used a technicality to strike down Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s bill to remove collective bargaining rights for his public sector workers.

Makes a nice change from the kind of court intervention in industrial disputes that we’re getting more used to on our side of the pond, where bizarre balloting technicalities are increasingly being used by employers to block union members’ attempts to take strike action.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that there hadn’t been enough notice of public consultations, effectively putting a (very welcome) block on the controversial legislation, and sending it on to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to appeal. The Governor had been trying to rush through public meetings by only issuing two hours notice, no doubt not entirely relishing going a few more rounds with the tens of thousands of protestors camped out on his doorstep.

This is obviously only a hiccup in a flow of traffic normally biased firmly against workers and in favour of employers’ somewhat deeper legal pockets, but it’s still something very nice to see for a change, and good also that Gov Walker’s attempts to sneak and bluster these measures past his own voters have come back to bite him.

Pls to share (thanks!):