The Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Tuesday stayed [order, PDF] a lower court’s decision striking down Wisconsin’s “right to work” law [text]. Judge William Foust of the Dane County Circuit Court in April struck down [JURIST report] the law that would bar unions from reaching agreements to force private-sector workers to pay the equivalent of union dues, later refusing to stay his decision. In a five-page order Tuesday, the appeals court blocked the ruling pending appeal:

We conclude the circuit court examined the relevant facts, applied the proper standard of law, and well articulated the basis for its decision to deny the stay pending appeal. However, we determine the court’s conclusion the Unions would suffer substantial harm if a stay was imposed pending appeal is not supported by the court’s factual findings and the record. As a result, the court erroneously exercised its discretion in according that factor more weight in its analysis. Given a relative lack of harm shown to either party or the public interest, the presumption of constitutionality of this duly enacted statute and the preference under the law to maintain the status quo to avoid confusion, we conclude the State has established there is sufficient likelihood of success on appeal to warrant the grant of the stay.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice welcomed Tuesday’s decision, stating [press release], “[w]e feel confident the law will ultimately be found constitutional, as it has been in more than half the States across the country.”

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker [official website] signed [JURIST report] the right to work bill into law in March of last year, making Wisconsin the twenty-fifth state with such a law on the books. It faced immediate legal challenge [JURIST report] from the Wisconsin AFL-CIO [union website] and two local labor unions. West Virginia became the twenty-sixth state to adopt right to work legislation [JURIST report] in February when lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto.