Washington County v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission

¶ 1. Since 1974 the collective bargaining agreements between Washington County and the Service Employees International Union Local 150 have given the County the right to lay off employees or contract out for goods and services. The issue in this appeal is whether the County had a unilateral duty during negotiations over the 2007-08 collective bargaining agreement to disclose to the Union that the County was seriously considering privatizing its laundry and housekeeping services in the near future. The Union argues that the County negotiated in bad faith by not notifying it that the County was…