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Bill would grant bargaining rights
Retention, fairness among arguments for UW System unionization option
Nick Halter
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Campus News
He said the bill would give professors unnecessary benefits, such as promises of teaching assistants.
"I understand the professors probably want more teaching assistants to do their work," he said. "But that's not what the students should want and that's not what the taxpayers should want.
"(Collective bargaining) will raise the cost and lower the quality of education," he said.
UW-Eau Claire Student Senate President Ray French said Student Senate hasn't voted on collective bargaining issues since he has been at Eau Claire because it is mainly a faculty and staff issue.
"We would support anything that will keep quality faculty at our university," he said.
Kennedy said in other states where collective bargaining is available, tuition increases were no different percentage-wise than in systems without bargaining rights.
A similar version of the bill was omitted in the eleventh hour from the state budget in October. The main opposition for the proposal came from the Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization, a lobbying group that represents UW System non-teaching academic staff.
The earlier proposal was unfair because it would separate faculty from academic staff when time came to bargain, ASPRO president Bill Steffenhagen said.
Academic staff would receive less from the Board of Regents because the board is more sympathetic to professors than non-teaching staff, he said.
"Basically, the ASPRO organization has always felt it was in the best interest of academic staff to be coupled with faculty when negotiating for compensation," said Connie Russell, ASPRO member and associate registrar at UW-Eau Claire.
The new bill, however, would allow faculty and staff the right to collectively bargain together, if they so choose.
State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, is chair of the Senate's Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education that will hear the bill. Vinehout said she is in favor of the collective bargaining rights.
"I understand the professors probably want more teaching assistants to do their work," he said. "But that's not what the students should want and that's not what the taxpayers should want.
"(Collective bargaining) will raise the cost and lower the quality of education," he said.
UW-Eau Claire Student Senate President Ray French said Student Senate hasn't voted on collective bargaining issues since he has been at Eau Claire because it is mainly a faculty and staff issue.
"We would support anything that will keep quality faculty at our university," he said.
Kennedy said in other states where collective bargaining is available, tuition increases were no different percentage-wise than in systems without bargaining rights.
A similar version of the bill was omitted in the eleventh hour from the state budget in October. The main opposition for the proposal came from the Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization, a lobbying group that represents UW System non-teaching academic staff.
The earlier proposal was unfair because it would separate faculty from academic staff when time came to bargain, ASPRO president Bill Steffenhagen said.
Academic staff would receive less from the Board of Regents because the board is more sympathetic to professors than non-teaching staff, he said.
"Basically, the ASPRO organization has always felt it was in the best interest of academic staff to be coupled with faculty when negotiating for compensation," said Connie Russell, ASPRO member and associate registrar at UW-Eau Claire.
The new bill, however, would allow faculty and staff the right to collectively bargain together, if they so choose.
State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, is chair of the Senate's Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education that will hear the bill. Vinehout said she is in favor of the collective bargaining rights.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
rprp
posted 12/03/07 @ 8:34 AM CST
Look at what unions have done to our lower grade schools. In my opinion they have destroyed the overall education system.
kel
posted 12/03/07 @ 6:57 PM CST
Today the University faculty have no input, no recourse, no way to advocate for themselves as a group. In America this situation was called slavery compounded by tyranny of the government in the Revolution and plain slavery in the 19th century. (Continued…)
Bryan L. Bain
posted 12/05/07 @ 2:11 PM CST
Correction: ASPRO represents all academic staff, not just non-instructional academic staff members.
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