University of Wisconsin-Madison Interim Chancellor David Ward released a statement Thursday updating campus groups about the university’s involvement with Palermo’s in light of a new report that claims the pizza company violated UW-Madison’s codes of conduct.
The Worker Rights Consortium, a third party the university hired to investigate code of conduct violations, found the pizza company violated its contract with Roundy’s, a company affiliated with UW-Madison which uses the university’s codes of conduct.
The issue stems from allegations of unfair labor practices, including illegally firing workers for attempting to unionize as well as threatening to audit immigrants.
In the statement, Ward said the National Labor Relations Board also reviewed the workers’ case and found some of the complaints “lacked merit.” Because the findings of the NLRB and WRC are “clearly contradictory,” Ward said he would have a committee review the WRC’s findings and alert Roundy’s to the report.
Labor Licensing Policy Committee Chair and UW-Madison consumer science professor Lydia Zepeda said Ward should pay more attention to the WRC’s findings since the WRC investigates violations of the university’s code of conduct, while the NLRB looks into violations of federal law.
“[UW-Madison has] a higher standard than federal law,” Zepeda said. “That’s the point of our codes of conduct, is that they are a higher standard.”
Ward also said he recognizes the opinions of the LLPC and WRC, but taking action before the workers’ appeal to the NLRB’s decision is finalized would be “premature.”
