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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
To unionize or not to unionize.
That is the choice UW System faculty and staff would have under a new piece of legislation.
A bill that will be announced in the state Senate this month by State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, would allow faculty and academic staff on UW campuses to collectively bargain if they so choose.
The American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin said UW faculty and staff are being denied a right most Big Ten university systems and Wisconsin private and public employees have.
The reasons for collective bargaining rights, AFT representatives said, is that the UW System has a worsening retention rate among faculty, which weakens universities across the state. As is, they said, faculty look for jobs outside Wisconsin universities to find better compensation.
"The retention rate has become so bad … How can the System keep the best and brightest here without collective bargaining?" Scott Spector, government relations representative for AFT said in a meeting with The Spectator.
The collective bargaining bill would also help students, AFT-Wisconsin representatives said.
"If faculty and academic staff can have a seat at the table … there are so many different issues we could be advocating on the behalf of students," said Bryan Kennedy, president of AFT-Wisconsin and assistant professor at UW-Milwaukee.
One concern is that if faculty chooses to unionize, professors will spend more time on strike and bargaining for higher compensation than in classrooms. Kennedy disagreed, saying the bill would forbid strikes.
He said the current policy actually hurts students because professors are leaving the UW System for higher paying jobs elsewhere, even at the last minute sometimes, leaving students without instructors and delaying their graduation.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, is opposed to collective bargaining rights. He said there are no unionized top-flight universities in the country and questioned why professors would ever want to leave their university in favor of one that is unionized.
That is the choice UW System faculty and staff would have under a new piece of legislation.
A bill that will be announced in the state Senate this month by State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, would allow faculty and academic staff on UW campuses to collectively bargain if they so choose.
The American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin said UW faculty and staff are being denied a right most Big Ten university systems and Wisconsin private and public employees have.
The reasons for collective bargaining rights, AFT representatives said, is that the UW System has a worsening retention rate among faculty, which weakens universities across the state. As is, they said, faculty look for jobs outside Wisconsin universities to find better compensation.
"The retention rate has become so bad … How can the System keep the best and brightest here without collective bargaining?" Scott Spector, government relations representative for AFT said in a meeting with The Spectator.
The collective bargaining bill would also help students, AFT-Wisconsin representatives said.
"If faculty and academic staff can have a seat at the table … there are so many different issues we could be advocating on the behalf of students," said Bryan Kennedy, president of AFT-Wisconsin and assistant professor at UW-Milwaukee.
One concern is that if faculty chooses to unionize, professors will spend more time on strike and bargaining for higher compensation than in classrooms. Kennedy disagreed, saying the bill would forbid strikes.
He said the current policy actually hurts students because professors are leaving the UW System for higher paying jobs elsewhere, even at the last minute sometimes, leaving students without instructors and delaying their graduation.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, is opposed to collective bargaining rights. He said there are no unionized top-flight universities in the country and questioned why professors would ever want to leave their university in favor of one that is unionized.
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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