The workers’ labor unions at the University of Wisconsin submitted a petition urging the university to amend its policy to include 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all graduate students, faculty, academic staff and university staff.
The message was delivered to Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s office Feb. 14, cosigned by five campus unions and gaining over 700 individual signatures.
The petition was first drafted in May 2023 after Gov. Tony Evers proposed a three-month family leave program that would cover most private-sector workers.
The proposal has continually been dismissed by the Republican-controlled legislature and cut from the state’s budget, according to The Cap Times.
Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws that protect paid family and medical leave programs for eligible workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The petition to the chancellor addresses the demands of graduate student workers, teaching assistants, project assistants and research assistants, since the Family Leave and Medical Act only applies to employees who have worked for their employers for at least 52 consecutive weeks, according to the petition.
UW professor of biostatistics medical informatics and President of Wisconsin University Union Karl Broman hopes a policy revision will bring more equity across the departments that have different funding capabilities.
“It ends up being kind of a negotiation between the faculty member and their department chair, which can be a big problem and leads to a lot of inequities … it will depend a great deal on different resources in different departments,” Broman said.
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Most graduate student workers don’t meet eligibility under FMLA, therefore they do not have the right to paid or unpaid leave. UW graduate students are granted six days of paid sick leave but are not guaranteed pay for any day beyond that, according to the petition.
Teaching Assistant Association co-president Madeline Topf said paid leave impacts a wide range of people on campus.
“Grad students essentially have to choose between their career, their degree and starting a family or caring for themselves,” Topf said.
The WUU submitted a letter regarding paid leave to the chancellor in March 2023 and received support, Broman said.
Despite proclaimed support from the university, members of the WUU are disappointed by the delayed action by the chancellor, Broman said.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm across the various groups on campus and the chancellor expressed strong support,” Broman said.
UW spokesperson Kelly Tyrell said the chancellor supports unions’ demand for paid family and medical leave.
“Chancellor Mnookin is committed to offering paid parental leave,” Tyrell said in an email statement to The Badger Herald. “The university continues to work with partners at the state and Universities of Wisconsin on plans to move it forward.”
Topf and Broman encourage undergraduate students to talk with representatives, write to the Board of Regents, the president of the UW system and directly to the Chancellor to support the unions’ efforts. Grad students and university staff are invited to join the unions and attend meetings to help determine the next steps.
