Those who disagree with a move to unionize the state's child care workers will ask a federal judge to rule on Gov. Dayton's executive order authorizing a union vote. Opponents say Dayton's order may violate their First Amendment

A judge has ruled that the governor overstepped his authority when he issued an order allowing some at-home child care providers to vote on whether to form a union.

A Ramsey County judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order to stop the election, which Gov. Dayton authorized last month. The judge said supporters of a union vote should draft a bill and have the Legislature decide the issue.

One child care provider who has joined a lawsuit to block a vote to unionize tells Forum Communications' reporter Don Davis that she worries a union would take over all negotiations with state officials, leaving her with no voice of her own. But union supporters say the move to stop the vote is just a ploy by "cheap-labor conservatives" and that unionization would provide better pay and benefits for workers in the industry.

Gov. Dayton on Tuesday signed an executive order authorizing day care workers to vote on whether to join unions but Republicans almost instantly said they would go to the courts to stop the action.

In two weeks, child care workers will vote on whether or not to unionize. But a meeting Monday revealed many unanswered questions for the state's 11,000 day care providers.

The challenge comes after the attorney general's office laid out three options for the governor after a judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking a union election. Politics in Minnesota says none of the options would get the election back on track any time soon.

State Sen. Mike Parry of Waseca says he thinks the governor does not have the authority to sign an executive order authorizing a union vote because the state's day care workers are independent contractors.