A Wisconsin senator is calling on University of Wisconsin System employees to denounce a bill that would prohibit them or their employers from using money to discourage other employees from exercising their right to bargain collectively.

Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, released a statement Friday denouncing the bill, citing concerns over freedom of speech. In the statement, Grothman said this bill could be used to silence people who are critical of unions.

“I think that if university employees want to say anything about union organization, they should be free to say so. We should continue to allow it, and we must fight against this kind of infringement on freedom of speech,” Grothman said in an interview with The Badger Herald.

Under current law, state employees covered under the State Employment Labor Relations Act and the faculty and academic staffs in the UW System have similar collective bargaining rights.

Current law further states that unfair labor practices for these employers include interfering with employees in the exercise of their rights to bargain collectively and encouraging or discouraging membership in a labor organization.

Peter Rickman, co-president of Teaching Assistants’ Association, was strongly critical of Grothman.

“Senator Grothman should take ‘Constitutional Law 101.’ His statements are completely ignorant and misleading in portraying the face of the bill. This legislation is not about the government limiting individual rights. It’s about protecting the freedom of speech for workers,” Rickman said.

Rickman said the bill is twofold in that it guarantees workers the ability to decide for themselves whether to join unions without intimidation, and it also protects a critical amount of funding, especially during the current fiscal crisis in public education.

“That’s why every person at the hearing was so supportive. The most important part of the state government is to ensure the core principle value; that is to support resources into education and research and outreach programs protected,” Rickman said.

Like Rickman, Jill Bakken, spokesperson for the Wisconsin chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, also emphasized the necessity of the bill.

“The UW System is facing financial difficulty. Money should be put on education, not to anti-union education,” Bakken said.

UW political science professor Donald Downs said the intent of the bill needs to be clarified before it can be determined if it is an infringement on freedom of speech. If the bill simply means employers cannot coerce, intimidate or pressure their employees not to join a union, then it is consistent with federal law.

Downs said concerns would be raised, however, if the bill broadened this to include professors who might make comments or express public opinions unfavorable to unions to graduate students or research assistants. In that case, it would be an infringement on freedom of speech.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said they do not have a specific stance on the bill.

“When it comes to unionization, we try to maintain a neutral position; we try not to support or oppose unionization. That’s our goal,” Giroux said.