Faculty wants vote on collective bargaining
Organizing under unions would allow staff to have legal representation
Breann Schossow
Issue date: 3/18/10 Section: Campus News
UW-Eau Claire faculty could be among the first in the UW System to form unions, followed by UW-Superior.
Thomas Kemp, professor of economics, said there are also six other institutions moving forward with the formation of unions at their respective campuses by the end of the calendar year. The 2009-2011 biennial budget extends collective bargaining rights to all system faculty and academic staff.
To signal that there should be an election for collective bargaining rights at UW-Eau Claire, campus collective bargaining representatives passed out authorization cards to faculty. An authorization card states that the signer wishes to have an election on collective bargaining and that the American Federation of Teachers should be a union option on that ballot.
On the authorization cards passed out, just over 70 percent of faculty members returned signed ballots saying they were willing to have a vote on the issue and they wanted to have AFT on the ballot, Kemp said. To hold an election, WERC requires that 30 percent of the bargaining unit return signed cards.
Kemp said the signed cards were submitted to WERC over a week ago and said he expects them to approve the cards soon.
Student Sen. Collin Hawkins brought a resolution to Student Senate during a March 8 general meeting to promote support for the upcoming resolution. The resolution passed 22 to 5 with two abstentions.
Sen. Mark Morgan said he could see the need for faculty to organize under a union, he was concerned about Student Senate supporting this without knowing the long-term impacts it would have on students. Morgan added that he was also worried about how it's legal for unions to merge with other regional unions.
"I think one of the problems that presents (itself) is that when you have unions from UW-Eau Claire … and some of the bigger schools is, one, Eau Claire isn't going to be the primary concern anymore," he said. "It's just faculty in general, and you worry that ... the interests of the - not only the faculty here - but the students here at Eau Claire will get lost in the mix."
Thomas Kemp, professor of economics, said there are also six other institutions moving forward with the formation of unions at their respective campuses by the end of the calendar year. The 2009-2011 biennial budget extends collective bargaining rights to all system faculty and academic staff.
To signal that there should be an election for collective bargaining rights at UW-Eau Claire, campus collective bargaining representatives passed out authorization cards to faculty. An authorization card states that the signer wishes to have an election on collective bargaining and that the American Federation of Teachers should be a union option on that ballot.
On the authorization cards passed out, just over 70 percent of faculty members returned signed ballots saying they were willing to have a vote on the issue and they wanted to have AFT on the ballot, Kemp said. To hold an election, WERC requires that 30 percent of the bargaining unit return signed cards.
Kemp said the signed cards were submitted to WERC over a week ago and said he expects them to approve the cards soon.
Student Sen. Collin Hawkins brought a resolution to Student Senate during a March 8 general meeting to promote support for the upcoming resolution. The resolution passed 22 to 5 with two abstentions.
Sen. Mark Morgan said he could see the need for faculty to organize under a union, he was concerned about Student Senate supporting this without knowing the long-term impacts it would have on students. Morgan added that he was also worried about how it's legal for unions to merge with other regional unions.
"I think one of the problems that presents (itself) is that when you have unions from UW-Eau Claire … and some of the bigger schools is, one, Eau Claire isn't going to be the primary concern anymore," he said. "It's just faculty in general, and you worry that ... the interests of the - not only the faculty here - but the students here at Eau Claire will get lost in the mix."
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