A union challenge to Wisconsin’s right to work law will move to federal appeals court after a district court judge dismissed the suit.

Federal Judge J.P. Stadtmueller dismissed International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 139 and 420 contention that allowing workers to opt out of union membership represents an illegal taking of property thereby violating the constitution. Stadtmueller said that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ Sweeney decision, which upheld right to work in neighboring Indiana, precluded him from striking down the Wisconsin law.

"This Court concludes, under the holding and reasoning announced by the majority in Sweeney, that Act 1: (1) is not preempted by the NLRA; and (2) does not work an unconstitutional taking," he wrote. "The majority also concluded that Indiana’s right to work law did not work an unconstitutional taking because "the union is justly compensated by federal law’s grant to the Union the right to bargain exclusively with the employer."

IUOE Local 139 president Terry McGowan told the Washington Free Beacon in a phone interview that the decision "didn’t come as a big surprise." He added that the union is "quite happy" to revisit the case before that same Court of Appeals that decided Sweeney. Chief Justice Diane Wood split from the majority in that case and ruled in the unions’ favor that non-members should be forced to pay "fair share" fees. The union hopes that its case may swing a vote over to Wood’s side.

"We remain confident that when presented with our arguments on federal pre-emption and the Takings Clause, the Seventh Circuit will re-evaluate Sweeney and rule in our favor," McGowan said in a release. "Simply put, it is our opinion that Congress never intended to allow some workers to get a free ride and have their union representation paid for by their fellow workers."

IUOE Local 420 did not respond to request for comment.

Union watchdogs celebrated the ruling. Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation, said that the judge properly "upheld the statutory and civil rights protections enshrined in Wisconsin's right to work law."

"The constitutionality of state right to work laws is a long-settled question," Mix said in a release. "Union officials have tried to strip away right to work protections for Wisconsin’s workers for years now dating back to their spurious lawsuits regarding Act 10, but once again worker freedom has prevailed."

IUOE is not the only union challenging the law. Five unions have filed suit in state court arguing that right to work violates the Wisconsin State Constitution. That case remains before the state Court of Appeals after a district court judge overturned the law.