Pay raises for Universities of Wisconsin employees were approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations in a 5-1 vote Tuesday.
The raises — originally approved in July but withheld in October — will provide about 35,000 UW employees with a 4% wage increase for 2023 as a lump sum retroactive to July 2, plus an additional 2% increase on July 1, 2024. Employees should see the 4% raises and the payment for back pay on the Jan. 11 paycheck, according to a statement from UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
“I recognize the stress this delay has caused many of our employees and your families and appreciate your patience while we advocated for final approval of this plan,” Mnookin said in the statement.
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The plan refers to a highly contested deal approved by the UW Board of Regents Dec. 13 that exchanges a number of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for withheld university funding for dorm renovations, a new engineering building and employee pay raises.
Gov. Tony Evers filed a lawsuit against the State Legislature in October over the withheld pay raises, among other policy disagreements. The lawsuit argued the Legislature exceeded its constitutional authority by using committees to issue “legislative vetoes.”
In an announcement on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Evers said JCOER’s approval of pay raises does not impact the lawsuit, and that the effort to contest “constitutional violations” among Assembly Republicans would continue.
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Republican lawmakers “are not done yet” attempting to eliminate DEI initiatives in Wisconsin’s state government, according to WisPolitics.
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“I have faith that legislative Republicans will begin a much needed long-term, in-depth review of every part of DEI in the state government … So stay tuned, this was just the first step and hopefully a lot more to come,” Vos said during the hearing.
Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) was the only vote opposed to the raises. Kapenga said he agreed with Vos’ campaign to cut DEI. He also criticized the $600 million being dedicated to UW capital projects, such as the engineering building for UW–Madison.
Following the vote, UW President Jay Rothman said the pay raises were “long delayed and well-deserved” in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. Rothman said UW “continue[s] to lag on national public funding,” ranking 42nd nationally.
“If we are to provide the education our students deserve & our parents expect, we must invest in the people that make it happen every day,” Rothman said in the statement. “Today’s action helps us not fall further behind.”
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The Public Representation Organization of the Faculty Senate, which advocates for UW–Madison faculty, released a statement ahead of the vote, calling on JCOER to approve pay raises to help UW employees adjust to inflation and make financial plans. Though PROFS was happy to see pay raises, the organization disagreed with the broader funding plan between the State Legislature and UW.
“While PROFS is eager to see approval of the pay plan and the Engineering building, we are deeply dismayed that Speaker Vos has forced the university to the table to negotiate pieces of the budget that had already been passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor,” PROFS said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
