There are many inaccuracies in Jason Smathers' "opinion" piece ("Labor Scandal at Wisconsin Union?") published in The Badger Herald Nov. 7.
While the writer did attempt to get the Union's side of the story, he disregarded facts along the way.
Among the many claims made by the disgruntled former employee, "Jorge," are that he was allowed to work as an undocumented illegal alien. This is patently false, even according to the article. He couldn't get paid if he were undocumented; he couldn't even be hired by the University of Wisconsin without appropriate documentation. While he may well have been using false documents, though no Social Security anomalies emerged, it is inappropriate to question someone when hiring them without cause — to do so would be racial profiling.
In addition, the claim that there are 25 to 30 illegal aliens working the third shift at the Wisconsin Union is also untrue. In reality, there are only 13 employees total working third shift between both Memorial Union and Union South — all of whom are in full compliance with state hiring procedures.
The article does not corroborate any of the claims of "Jorge," who admittedly had worker compensation as well as other workplace issues. Doesn't that raise any flags? The reporter should have attempted to verify these allegations before publishing such an inflammatory piece, and the editor should have demanded proof before allowing it to go to press.
The Wisconsin Union takes all of these issues seriously. In October 2006 the Union initiated the living wage for Limited Term Employees — eight months ahead of the campus mandate — and has converted most LTEs to full-time positions. We also have a strong track record and a comprehensive process for dealing with workplace grievances. Though these issues were discussed with the reporter, they were not included in the story.
Such a misleading article does a disservice to the Union, the university and its employees as well as The Badger Herald itself. Without checking these dubious claims for accuracy, the article casts doubt on the veracity of the content of the entire newspaper, not merely this one piece.
We expect more from our student newspapers and are disappointed because The Badger Herald has done and can do much better.
Marc Kennedy
Communications Director
Wisconsin Union
