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.