Act 10 weakened the warden's union. They hope a lawsuit will bring it back to full strength

MADISON – As a collection of public unions work to overturn Act 10, law enforcement members who have been excluded from collective bargaining abilities are looking to the possibility of having a voice once more.

Ben Gruber, a conservation warden with the Department of Natural Resources and one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday, said his experiences with the DNR as someone not represented by a strong union has shown support is needed.

"We don't have an ability to raise workplace concerns that affect our ability to go out there and deliver just that high-quality public service," he said.

"We've been really unfairly treated, in a clear disparate way... and we really need that ability to come to the table and have that meaningful process to be able to get that fair treatment and thus deliver that fair service to our to our public."

Gruber is one of 220 conservation wardens in a program that is currently facing increased scrutiny, due to allegations of unfair treatment of women and retaliation against employees who have raised issues with their management. Gruber, who is president of Conservation Wardens Local 1215, said he believes that had there been someone to advocate on behalf of employees, these issues wouldn't have grown as large as they have.

"Our lack of a meaningful grievance procedure has, in essence, not given us an avenue to hold our management accountable," he said. "When people are disciplined or retaliated against, nobody really knows or understands what's happening. And I think that's a huge part of it. It absolutely is what has helped this to get to this point without intervention."

More: Inside the Wisconsin conservation warden program, employees allege 'a terrible, toxic culture'

Act 10 ended the ability of public-sector unions to negotiate over any issues other than raises, and those raises were capped at the rate of inflation. In addition, unions were required to hold annual elections to maintain their ability to negotiate for those raises. In those elections, they must win a majority of all eligible members, not just those who cast votes.

Public workers earning $50,000 a year saw their take-home pay shrink by about 8.5% because they had to pay more for their benefits, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau at the time.

Republicans have touted the law's savings and said it gave elected officials and the public more control of government. Repealing Act 10 "would bankrupt schools and local governments right after we gave them a historic funding increase," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement shortly after the lawsuit was announced.

Law excluded wardens, Capitol Police from collective bargaining

Though firefighters, state troopers and local sheriff and police departments were able to continue their bargaining rights, conservation wardens and the Capitol Police were excluded from the exceptions.

Theories abound as to the reason. Some suggest it was because wardens and the Capitol Police didn't support Republican former Gov. Scott Walker in his reelection bid. Others suggest wardens were excluded because the program is a part of the DNR, which underwent tightening by the Walker administration.

But Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said that what it came down to was that wardens didn't neatly fit into the category of "public safety officials."

"It's especially disappointing that while some law enforcement and public safety employees did retain their collective bargaining rights, obviously others did not and we're seeing the detrimental impacts or effects of that," he said.

Conservation wardens are largely responsible for enforcing the rules and regulations of the outdoors, in relation to recreation, hunting, fishing and trapping. They also perform environmental investigations when contaminants are spilled, and are responsible for patrolling snowmobile trails in the winter and lakes and rivers during the summer boating season.

More: Unions sue to overturn Scott Walker-era Act 10 law that limited public workers' bargaining

But they also serve many of the same functions of law enforcement. They issue tickets and can pull people over. They ensure the public is safe. They can be called in as backup by sheriff's deputies and police. In smaller counties with less law enforcement presence they can play the same role as a deputy or a police officer.

"We are Department of Justice certified law enforcement, just like the State Patrol, just like our sheriff's deputies. We make arrests. We do the same things," Gruber said. "It's a little bit of disparate treatment, that we were excluded."

Lawsuit could overturn Act 10's block on bargaining

Things could change for wardens and other public employees such as public school teachers if the challenge against Act 10 is successful.

THe lawsuit filed Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court argues the 2011 law violates equal protection guarantees in the state Constitution by dividing public employees into two classes: "general" and "public safety" employees. Public safety employees are exempt from the collective bargaining limitations imposed on "general" public employees.

In addition to Gruber plaintiffs include the Abbotsford Education Association; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Locals 47 and 1215; the Beaver Dam Education Association; Beaver Dam teacher Matthew Ziebarth; SEIU Wisconsin; Racine Unified School District employee Wayne Rasmussen; the Teaching Assistants' Association Local 3220 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 695.

Previous legal challenges to the law have failed, but the latest move comes months after liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in, flipping the high court's majority for the first time in years.

Protasiewicz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board in March she would consider recusing herself from cases involving Act 10 based on her opposition to the law, including participating in protests in 2011 and signing a Walker recall petition.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on X at @SchulteLaura.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Act 10 weakened the warden's union but a new lawsuit could change that