Two state lawmakers introduced legislation Monday to allow UW System faculty and staff collective bargaining rights, with authors of the bill saying it will make Wisconsin more competitive.
State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, and state Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, authored the piece of legislation, which has not yet been given a bill number.
The right to form a union is a universal right,"" Hansen said. ""It's a fundamental civil right.""
Hansen said the bill's language is similar to SB452, which was introduced in the 2005-'06 legislative session by state Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center.
The bill differs from Senate Bill 452 in that it allows faculty and academic staff to bargain collectively or separately, according to Hansen.
He said the bill had bipartisan support, including sponsorship by Republicans state Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, and state Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria.
According to Hansen, the University of Indiana and Northwestern University are the only other schools in the Big Ten that do not offer collective bargaining rights.
Hansen said the bill was likely to pass the Democrat-controlled state Senate. Carrie Lynch, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said Decker supports UW collective bargaining rights and also said the bill would likely pass the Senate.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, who would decide if the bill would be put to a vote in the Republican-controlled Assembly, was unavailable for comment as of press time.
UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the UW System Board of Regents was reviewing the bill and had not yet taken a position on it. Giroux said in past versions of similar bills the UW Board of Regents had been neutral on the issue.
Mark Evenson, president of the Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals, said lawsuits between the UW System and faculty could be settled easier if collective bargaining rights were used.
Hahn said in past legislative sessions faculty Senates at smaller UW System schools have been in favor of collective bargaining, but that UW-Madison had traditionally been opposed to it.
Evenson said the UW-Madison faculty Senate was now neutral on the issue of collective bargaining.
