“Without right-to-work protections, the injustice that workers face by having an unwanted union imposed on them against their will is compounded by the injustice of being forced to pay a portion of their hard-earned paychecks to union officials they oppose,” Semmens said.

Secunda, the Marquette Law School professor, said Foust is raising a similar issue to that raised by the dissenting judge in a 2-1 federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling out of Indiana. Wisconsin is part of the 7th circuit, although the Wisconsin unions have not filed their case in federal court.

The only way right-to-work would be ultimately quashed in Wisconsin is if a more liberal U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case, which would first require a ruling overturning the law in a different appellate court.

“If Judge Foust is right, it would make every single right-to-work law in the United States unconstitutional,” Secunda said.

Semmens called Foust’s decision an overreach and compared it to a 2012 decision from Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas to strike down Walker’s collective bargaining measure known as Act 10, which also hurt union membership.

In the five years since Act 10 was signed, union membership in Wisconsin has plummeted.