Wisconsin Right Now

Right to Work supporters aren't worried about its future in Wisconsin, yet. Workers at Spartek in Sparta recently removed their union, the United Electrical Workers Local 1161, after a three-year wait according to National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens. “To begin with, Spartek employee Carl Berg and his coworkers were trapped under a union-imposed ‘contract bar’ for roughly three years, during which they weren’t allowed to decertify the union. When Berg was finally able to submit the petition asking the NLRB for a decertification vote, it already contained signatures from the majority of his colleagues,” Semmens said. “That’s likely why the UE union disclaimed interest before a vote could even be scheduled: Union officials saw the support for the decertification vote and decided to disclaim interest in the unit as opposed to facing an embarrassing loss at the ballot box.” Wisconsin lawmakers approved Right to Work in 2015, though it's never bee...