Act 10, a 13-year-old Wisconsin law that sharply curtailed the bargaining rights of most public employees and eroded the power of unions, was overturned by a Dane County judge Monday. Efforts to overturn the law that put then-Gov.

Collective bargaining rights of public employees in Wisconsin were restored Monday in a ruling by Dane County Judge Jacob Frost. Public employee unions largely lost their ability to collectively bargain in 2011 with the passage of Act 10.

A Wisconsin judge struck down certain parts of Act 10, a controversial law also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, on Monday, restoring collective bargaining rights to union workers.

The 2011 law stripped most government workers in the state of collective bargaining rights and set off protests that lasted weeks.

This decision marks the final judgment in a 2023 lawsuit brought by seven labor unions arguing that Act 10 violated workers' equal protection guarantees.

A Dane County judge struck down on Monday, Dec. 2 parts of Act 10, a Wisconsin law that placed limits on government workers’ unions.

The effort to overturn Act 10 began in November 2023 when several unions representing public employees filed the lawsuit, citing a "dire situation" in workplaces with issues including low pay, staffing shortages and poor working conditions.

Republicans vowed to appeal a ruling restoring collective bargaining rights for public worker and teachers unions that were stripped in 2011.