The Badger Herald

NEWS

Nass draws ire for stalling bill

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

Also by Julia Bair:

Secretary emphasizes change (March 4, 2008)
State Senate feeds funding for expansion of Veterinary School (March 3, 2008)
Kenya issues spark debate (February 28, 2008)
Senate bill bans state trafficking (February 26, 2008)
Legislators target bill at plastic bags (February 21, 2008)

by Julia Bair

Monday, March 10, 2008

One lawmaker’s refusal to move forward a bill that would provide University of Wisconsin faculty with collective bargaining rights drew complaints from a group representing educators statewide late last week.

The bill passed the Senate three weeks ago, but Assembly leaders have yet to allow debate on it, drawing criticism from Wisconsin’s American Federation of Teachers group.

Rep. Stephen Nass, R-Whitewater, who chairs the Committee on Colleges and Universities, has repeatedly refused to hold a hearing on the bill in its current form.

The bill would provide all faculty and staff in the UW System with the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment.

“I feel the right to form a union is a fundamental human right and furthermore a fundamental civil right,” the bill’s author, Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, said when it passed the Senate.

However, the bill would prohibit strikes and exclude the issues of tenure, the mission and goals of the Board of Regents and academic freedom from the negotiation process.

According to Nass spokesperson Mike Mikalsen, tenure and academic freedom are a big part of the collective bargaining process and should not be excluded from the bill.

“The bottom line is Nass has told various groups how the bill would have to be structured for him to support it,” Mikalsen said. “The other side has opposed amendment. There has to be some flexibility, and at this point they don’t have it.”

Mikalsen added the bill is unbalanced and takes power away from taxpayers and students. According to Mikalsen, collective bargaining would unquestionably lead to higher salaries, and there has to be security for students. Nass has proposed a tuition cap to provide this security.

Bryan Kennedy, president of the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, said the failure of the collective bargaining rights bill would reflect the issues of fairness across party lines.

“We have the support we need in the Assembly for this bill to pass, and it’s a disgrace that the Assembly leadership refuses to let those voices be heard,” Kennedy said in a statement. “It’s a slap in the face to the democratic process.”

Under the current State Employment Labor Relations Act, Wisconsin faculty at technical colleges can form unions, but university faculty cannot. According to Hansen, Wisconsin is one of only four states with this legislation.

The bill passed in the Senate with a vote of 21-10. But last Thursday when Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, moved to debate the bill on the Republican-controlled Assembly floor, the vote was defeated along party lines.

According to Mikalsen, Nass doesn’t believe faculty and staff need better wages because UW already has great retirement and health care benefits.

“In terms of just salaries, you do see higher wages at peer institutions,” Mikalsen said. “But UW faculty currently has the second best public pension system in the country.”

Mikalsen added many faculty would rather have good benefits and lower salaries in a trade-off between the two.

— Beth Mueller contributed to this report.

Feedback

Show all comments

Hide anonymous comments

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 6:58am):

I would like to see Nass give workers the ability to unionize, but not make it mandatory. I'm fed up with the TAA taking my money and doing nothing with it beside hold meetings to endorse Barack Obama.

In a competitive market like in academia, the union does nothing to set salaries. When people leave for other schools, the pay rate here has to increase equivalently.

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 8:57am):

Trust someone that already belongs to a union & works at the university. Just because you can use collective bargaining, doesn't mean your going to get a fair salary. Someone that does the type of work I do in the private sector makes about $21/Hr compared to my $13.

You might wonder why I stay, the health & retirement benefits, bring it up to about $18/Hr , but each year our pay goes up by 1%, but the portion I have to pay for my health insurance goes up by 3%.

Collective bargaining, when it comes to State employment is not the dream solution it is made out to be.

Don't expect any tears to be shed for the Staff & Faculty from the Classified staff, most times a Staff or Faculty employee asks for a raise they get it. Heck the Office of the Dean of Students is studying to make sure that the pay Faculty & Staff is competitive and where it isn't giving raise of up to $5000/Yr.

That won't be happening for classified staff any time soon.

So much for Social Justice.

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 10:35am):

I am a UW professor and the anonymous comment directly above is simply untrue. We can't "ask for raises"; we get small merit raises competitively assigned every year, and they are less than the rise in the cost of living.

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 3:06pm):

I find it ironic that Nass criticizes others for being inflexible.

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 4:18pm):

I'm just hoping that Nass gets unseated in the next election (unlikely as that is). I'm getting sick of his destructive stance on education and the way he uses his position to damage the university system.

bill smith (March 10, 2008 @ 7:48pm):

I too am a UW faculty member and been one for more than 30 years. I will retire next year and my pension will be quite decent. But--unless one intends to be a "lifer" trading off salary for retirement benefits is not all that attractive. Several departments on my campus (not Madison) have been unable to recruit new faculty for 2 years simply because our salaries are not competitive. When you add in the open hostility between the legislature and the U why would anyone in their right mind come to Wisconsin. The fact that people are leaving Madison and other UW Campuses for places like Minnesota, Indiana, etc. for $40,000 (and more) raises ought to be a signal that at that rate it is declining the UW System will drown in mediocrity in the not very distant future.

I do not know if faculty unionization is the answer but I would love to imagine the Teamsters representing the faculty.

Anonymous (March 10, 2008 @ 8:17pm):

UW should stop attacking Nass. It just
hurts the UW. We need a new chancellor
who will work with the legislature, not
make the situation at the Capitol worse
than it is now. John Wiley failed at
this, which is why UW cannot get anything
through the Assembly.

Anonymous (March 12, 2008 @ 10:35pm):

Agreed. Wiley was totally incompetent,
especially dealing with Assembly Republicans.
UW will continue to face budget cuts until
we have a chancellor who works with the
Assembly in a positive way.

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.