After negotiations spanning over a year between labor groups, UW-Madison administration, workers and student government, UW-Madison limited term employees have secured a living wage and, potentially, full-time positions.
Chancellor John Wiley signed a plan Tuesday to convert LTE positions throughout UW-Madison into full-time jobs and pay each LTE a living wage of $10.23 per hour by July 1, 2007.
The goal of the policy is to convert 95 percent of all inappropriate LTE appointments over a six year period,"" according to a memo issued by Wiley Tuesday.
These inappropriate appointments include Memorial Union food service and custodial work in which LTEs are, ""side by side, doing identical work as full-time workers,"" according to Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell.
Pressure to cut costs over the years led to continual placement of employees in lower-paying LTE appointments that should be full-time positions, according to Wiley.
LTE positions are now defined as irregular""positions with defined beginnings and ends for ""peak"" demand times""or seasonal""time-limited functions that recur annually.
President of Administrative Support of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 2412 Gary Mitchell said he thinks the policy is ""huge progress,"" but a lack of ""friendly administration down the road"" could threaten it.
The Nov. 7 elections, by instituting new federal and state representation, may affect the current state and university attitude toward ""blue collar workers,"" leading to potential questioning of the new policy, according to Mitchell.
Bazzell stressed ""very little of this is on the backs of the taxpayers,"" saying that tax dollars will not contribute to the pay increase for LTEs. For example, Bazzell noted, season ticket workers or custodians after major athletic events are primarily paid their wages through athletic ticket revenues.
Student Labor Action Coalition member Ashok Kumar said the policy is progress, but that SLAC wants to see a living wage for student workers, an issue to be represented on the Associated Students of Madison election ballot as a referendum Oct. 17-19.
