Judge places temporary hold on collective bargaining ruling

A Wisconsin judge on Wednesday temporarily put on hold his recent ruling that restored collective bargaining rights to teachers and most other public workers that were lost under a 2011 state law that sparked weeks of protests and made the state the center of the national battle over union rights. That law, known as Act 10, effectively ended the ability of most public employees to bargain for wage increases and other issues, and forced them to pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits. Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost on Wednesday granted a temporary stay of his Dec. 2 ruling striking down most of the law as unconstitutional. The stay is in place while Frost considers written arguments over whether to place his ruling on hold while the Legislature appeals it. Those arguments are due to the court by Jan. 24, meaning the ruling will likely be on hold until at least then and maybe longer.