A Wisconsin judge on Monday struck down portions of a 2011 law that stripped most government workers in the state of collective bargaining rights and set off fierce demonstrations.
The ruling by Judge Jacob Frost of the Dane County Circuit Court is certain to be appealed. But his decision provided at least a temporary victory to labor unions and Democrats in Wisconsin, who turned out by the thousands to protest the law more than a decade ago and who have been trying ever since to take it off the books.
“Restoring union freedoms to Wisconsin workers will strengthen Wisconsin’s middle class, lift up the voices of workers and lead to better public services for our communities,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, the president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, in a statement.
Republicans passed the law, known as Act 10, shortly after winning control of state government in the 2010 elections, arguing that limits on public sector unions were necessary to balance the budget and attract business investments. They advanced the legislation despite large-scale protests at the State Capitol in Madison and an attempt by Democratic lawmakers to scuttle the vote by fleeing to Illinois.
The law, which was part of a wave of Republican-backed legislation nationally that curbed the power of unions, helped set off a contentious era of Wisconsin politics that has been defined by close elections, partisan recriminations and sharply clashing views over the future of the state and country.
Former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who signed Act 10 into law and has made it a centerpiece of his political legacy, called Judge Frost’s ruling “brazen political activism” in a post on social media.
“We want a state where legislators and the Governor make the laws, not the courts!” he said.
Mr. Walker’s successor, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, called the ruling “great news for Wisconsin workers” in a statement of his own, adding that “I’ve always believed workers should have a seat at the table in decisions that affect their daily lives and livelihoods.”
But Monday’s decision seems unlikely to be the final word on the issue. Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, vowed in a statement on Monday to appeal.
“This lawsuit came more than a decade after Act 10 became law and after many courts rejected the same meritless legal challenges,” Mr. Vos said.
When they crafted the law, Republicans carved out an exception that allowed police officers and firefighters to continue bargaining collectively. Judge Frost said that distinction was unconstitutional and made it impossible for key portions of the law to remain in effect.
The case seems likely to end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has been at the center of recent battles over elections and abortion, and which upheld Act 10 in 2014 when conservative justices were in the majority.
That court is officially nonpartisan but has grown highly politicized. Liberals currently hold a one-seat majority, but conservatives would regain control if their candidate wins a spring election for an open seat.
Even as union leaders celebrated the ruling on Monday, they acknowledged that an appeal was almost certainly coming.
“We realize there may still be a fight ahead of us in the courts, but make no mistake, we’re ready to keep fighting,” said Ben Gruber, a conservation warden and local union president who was a plaintiff in the case.
Thirteen years after the Act 10 protests, Wisconsin remains politically divided. President-elect Donald J. Trump narrowly carried the state last month, while voters also elected Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, to another term.
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