Time to admit defeat guys, Walker won.

(JS Online) — The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO on Wednesday joined a broad coalition of organized labor groups, filing a federal lawsuit to halt Gov. Scott Walker’s collective bargaining legislation.

The groups include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 24, AFSCME Council 40, AFSCME Council 48, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the Wisconsin State Employees Union, The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Service Emplloyees International Union — Health Care Wisconsin (SEIU).

In a statement, the groups said they were filing the suit “which denies hundreds of thousands of public employees their right to collectively bargain for a better life. The groups challenge the constitutionality of the state’s Budget Repair Bill which would destroy collective bargaining rights for all but a select group of public sector workers.”

The suit says the legislation violates the the 1st and 14th amendments “by stripping away basic rights to bargain, organize and associate for the purpose of engaging in union activity, which have been in place for the last half century.”

At approximately the same time the unions announced filing of their suit, Administration Secretary Michael Huebsch issued a statement outlining how the state will implement the collective bargaining legislation.

Said Huebsch: “The department is moving forward with plans to implement Act 10. In the coming days, I will be working with my staff to set a timeline and develop a plan for increasing state employee pension and health insurance premium contributions. Based on initial discussions, the soonest that the change could appear on state employee paychecks is late August.