Greenwood teacher settles in dispute over union dues

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GREENWOOD - A former western Wisconsin school teacher has settled her claim that the Greenwood School District illegally withheld $750 in union dues when she worked there.

Amy Anaya is getting the entire amount back. The National Right-to-Work Foundation announced the settlement. The group represented Anaya for free in a complaint she filed with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission. Greenwood was among the school districts that extended their union contracts in the days before the 2011 limits on collective bargaining took effect. Greenwood officials said a contract was in place when Anaya started teaching that fall – and therefore, the district was required to deduct the union dues from her paychecks. But the Right-to-Work Foundation said the new contract did not take effect until two days after the bargaining limits took effect. And therefore, the group said the bargaining law trumped the new contract.

At the time the complaint was filed, the group said Anaya’s case could set a statewide precedent on how Act-10 is enforced. But that won’t happen now, because the settlement wipes out the possibility of a hearing on the issue.

Tags: western wisconsin, news, wisconsin, education