Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly says he would follow the Legislature to address collective bargaining laws

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice candidate Dan Kelly spoke on Tuesday in Milwaukee about Wisconsin’s 2015 right-to-work law at a luncheon. His liberal opponent Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Judge was also invited, but she was not in attendance, due to a scheduling conflict, according to her campaign.

The Daily Reporter and the Wisconsin Law Journal were in attendance along with journalists from across the state and members of the general public during a joint event that was hosted by the Milwaukee Press Club and Milwaukee Rotary. The panelists included Charles Benson with TMJ4, Corrinne Hess with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Victor Jacobo with CBS 58 and Telemundo Wisconsin.

Panelists asked Kelly questions about Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion law, gerrymandering, fake electors, and previous statements Kelly made.

In Michigan last week, the lower chamber of legislature voted to repeal the state’s right-to-work law, which barred labor unions from requiring other employees to pay dues and fees.

On the labor front, Kelly’s views were not clear on Act 10 or right to work laws. Passed under former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration in 2011 and 2015 respectively, both laws effectively ended collective bargaining for public employees in Wisconsin. Walker appointed Kelly in 2016.

When asked how he would impartially handle the state’s right-to-work law if the issue went to court and his association with former Gov. Walker, Kelly said he would no longer apply the law as a jurist if the Legislature repealed the past actions.

In other words, if lawmakers change the law he would apply that rule of law to cases before the court.

In a previous interview with The Daily Reporter, Kelly didn’t answer questions about his view on collective bargaining. In fact, Kelly said his views on unions and Act 10 were as “irrelevant to the work of the court as my favorite Italian dish.”

However, if collective bargaining and Act 10 issues come before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and if Kelly were to be elected, he would in fact be charged with making such decisions.

Enacted in June 2011, Act 10 reduced collective bargaining rights for state employees, including K-12 teachers. Public employees and teachers were required to pay more toward retirement and health care plans, The Observatory reported. The action drew as many as 100,000 protestors to the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.

Labor membership in Wisconsin fell dramatically after the passage of Act 10, the anti-public sector collective bargaining bill in 2011, with the sharpest decrease in the nation over the next decade. As of 2021, Wisconsin reached a new low just shy of 8% of the total workforce unionized, PBS reported.

The right-to-work law bars employers and labor unions from entering into agreements where employees are required to join a union as a condition of employment, a memo from the Wisconsin Legislative Council said.

“Under the Act, a private sector employer may not enter into an agreement with a labor organization that requires employees in a collective bargaining unit to be members of a labor organization as a condition of employment,” the council memo said.

Steve Schuster contributed to this report.