Judge: Union members can decide on dues

Associated Press

Updated: May 18, 2012 3:27 PM

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Wisconsin public union members must proactively tell the state to subtract dues from their paychecks.

U.S. District Judge William Conley's decision Friday stems from a lawsuit challenging Republican Gov. Scott Walker's law stripping most public workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.

Conley upheld most of the law in March. The state and the unions, though, asked him to clarify part of his ruling that overturned the law's prohibition on automatic due withdrawals.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Conley decided union members must tell the state if they want their dues deducted. The judge said members who opt in must commit to payments for a year.

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