Wl implements anti-union law amid ire

US: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has planned to implement a new law that strips public employees of most of their bargaining rights despite public outcry. The administration of Gov. Walker is no longer collecting dues on behalf of state unions and as of Sunday began charging employees more for healthcare and their pensions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Tuesday.

Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said on Monday that administration attorneys have determined the law is now in effect despite a statement by nonpartisan legislative attorneys, who argue that the changes have not yet signed into law.

He went on to say that public employees also no longer are being billed for union dues, and those changes will show up on checks issued April 21.

The new law requires most public workers to pay at least 12.6 percent of their healthcare premiums and half the cost of their pensions - 5.8 percent of pay - for most state employees.

On February 25, Wisconsin's State Assembly passed a controversial bill, proposed by Walker, to curtail the state's labor unions as the ongoing political wrangling between organized workers and cash-strapped state governments engulfed across the US.

The controversial plan to curtail collective bargaining sparked huge public protests at the state Capitol in Wisconsin and several other states, prompting Senate Democrats to leave the state for three weeks in a bid to block the bill, and brought national attention to Wisconsin.

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