The Classified Staff Executive Committee will meet Thursday to begin drafting internal bylaws, continuing a process where classified staff will organize in a formal governance structure for the first time in the university’s history.
With almost 5,000 members, classified staff make up 30 percent of campus employees. Classified staff are civil-service employees ranging from custodians and groundskeepers to administrative support staff.
The nine-member executive committee, which held its first meeting Nov. 15, is a shared governance group, part of a system where different campus bodies provide input on campus governance and policy development.
The committee was “an adaptation” in response to Wisconsin Act 10, which removed collective bargaining rights from most unions, CSEC Vice Chair Gary Mitchell said. He is also the president of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees union.
“Prior to Act 10, the labor unions were very active on campus,” CSEC representative Mary Czynszak-Lyne said. “And we’re still around, but we don’t have that active voice … so this is another way to have participation.”
Mitchell said classified staff have always had a stake in decisions about wages, hours and working conditions, but the new committee will allow them input in a broader range of issues.
The executive committee is still planning how to structure classified staff governance, but Mitchell said he is “excited” about plans to soon establish a large body of classified staff who would have a stake in the group.
Czynszak-Lyne said she envisions a future where classified staff have a stake in campus decisions equal to other shared governance groups, and are recognized by the university.
“We’re somewhat invisible at times,” Czynszak-Lyne said. “When things go well, we’re invisible. When things go awry, that’s when we become very visible.”
Thursday’s meeting will focus on creating bylaws and committee appointments for the CSEC, according to Chair Russell Kutz, who said he is optimistic about the future.
“There’s lots of positive energy,” Kutz said. “We all have the interest and drive to get a lot completed right away.”
