AP file
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at a news conference in Chicago, June 25, 2012.
By The Associated Press
A Wisconsin judge on Friday struck down the state law championed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers.
Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled Friday that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void.
The law took away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most workers and has been in effect for more than a year.
Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void. The ruling comes after a lawsuit brought by the Madison teachers union and a union for Milwaukee city employees.
For city, county, and school workers, Colas' returns the law to its status the governor signed it in March 2011, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. However, the law remains largely in force for state workers, it reported.
Walker's law prohibited state and local governments from bargaining over anything except cost of living adjustments to salaries. Haggling over issues such as health benefits, pensions, workplace safety was barred. With Friday's ruling, those items are reopened to negotiation, the Sentinel reported.
Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said he was confident the decision will be overturned on appeal.
"We believe the law is constitutional," said Department of Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck.
Lester Pines, an attorney for Madison Teachers Inc., did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The proposal was introduced shortly after Walker took office in February last year. It sparked a firestorm of opposition and huge protests at the state Capitol that lasted for weeks. All 14 Democratic state senators fled the state to Illinois for three weeks in an ultimately failed attempt to stop the law's passage from the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Anger over the law's passage led to an effort to recall Walker from office. More than 930,000 signatures were collected triggering the June recall election.?Walker won and became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall.
NBC News staff contributed to this report
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? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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