The Badger Herald

NEWS

Democrats call for unionizing option

Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.

Also by Cara Harshman:

Democrats call for unionizing option (December 5, 2007)
Mayor dislikes cable proposal (November 13, 2007)
The farmer and the bill (November 8, 2007)
FEMA offers state drought assistance (November 5, 2007)
Atheists expand kids' ranch suit (November 1, 2007)

by Cara Harshman

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Two state legislators introduced a bill Tuesday that would give University of Wisconsin faculty and staff the opportunity to unionize and collectively bargain, a right they currently do not have.

Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, and Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, co-sponsored the bill to give all faculty and staff in the UW System the right to form a union and bargain collectively for working conditions and employment arrangements.

"UW teachers currently do not have a seat at the table," Hansen said. "They are told what they are going to get."

The proposed bill would give UW faculty and staff the opportunity to form unions either together or separately.

"[Collective bargaining and unionizing] are tools that employees can use to improve working conditions," Richards said.

The bill, however, would not force faculty and staff to unionize, Hansen added.

"It merely gives them the opportunity to decide in a democratic way," he said.

According to Hansen, 29 other states give university employees the right to form a union. UW, the University of Indiana and Northwestern University are the only Big Ten schools that do not let professors unionize.

However, in Wisconsin, he added technical college faculty and staff are allowed to collectively bargain and unionize.

With experience in teaching and union contracting, Hansen said, "forming a union is a universal human right. It is part of a democratic society."

But Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, said the proposed bill is "a horrible idea."

"I might be missing something, but I cannot find one first-class university that unionizes its faculty," Grothman said. "It is a quick route to making UW-Madison a second-rate university."

But Richards hopes recruiting and retaining top quality teachers will be an outcome of the proposed bill.

"We are competing with universities around the country and around the world," Richards said. "We lose people when we don't treat them right. We can at least give [UW employees] the option to unionize."

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the UW System has not adopted a formal position on the bill yet, but commented on the "exceptionally well-educated workforce in the UW System."

"We have over 40,000 employees," Giroux said. "We need a workplace that keeps and retains the brightest minds in the world."

UW System faculty and staff compensation is in heated debate right now, Giroux said.

"Compensation is an issue that President Reilly and the Board of Regents leadership have been beating the drum on quite consistently," Giroux added. "Wages need to improve if we will recruit and retain the best talent."

Hansen and Richards said employee wages and working conditions are two major areas they hope unionization and collective bargaining can improve.

Richards said the proposed bill has considerable bipartisan support, adding he hopes the legislation passes through the Republican-controlled Assembly and Democratic-controlled Senate before the Legislature adjourns in March.

Feedback

Show all comments

Hide anonymous comments

Shawn Snyder (December 5, 2007 @ 4:38pm):

"forming a union is a universal human right."
They already have the right to unionize and protest and they have the right to get fired, too. If they're so important to the employer, when they strike, the employer will do something. If they overstated their importantness, they can be go back to work or get replaced. No one took away their right to respectably ask for a raise, either. What Hansen is saying is he wants to make teacher unions immune from getting fired for being too greedy. In a healthy system, there is no need for unions and only deteriorate the quality of work. This is definitely a healthy system.

The top of the UW system already knows what it needs to maintain it's profs, so it's not a something that can be helped by an internal policy. If UW gets more money, they know where to put it. If teachers want more money, lobby the legislaters or donators. Creating immunity for laziness solves nothing, and only ties the hands of UW administrators when they can't do anything about it anyway.

Add a comment

We welcome your thoughts, but please keep your feedback thoughtful, on-topic and respectful. Offensive language, personal attacks, or irrelevant comments may be deleted.