Academic staff members who work for the University of Wisconsin have asked Republican state lawmakers to do something to keep them from being assigned to labor unions without their approval, reports The Capital Times, in Madison. Four lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to halt the state employment-relations commission’s plan, which would affect about 500 people who work as doctors, student-services coordinators, and computer technicians, among other occupations.
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Anyone who tries to comment on this inchoate report without some specific details is swimming in dangerous waters. Who are these “academic staff members”? How can they be “assigned to labor unions without their approval”? THE CHRONICLE should be a bit more careful with its postings…
It seems that the Ticker is truly a “rip and read” feature. It is rare that the items that appear here ever make it into a full-blown story.
Here is a link to the actual story: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/campus_connection/article_032a3b28-1f96-11e0-9528-001cc4c002e0.html
The actual story indicates that republican legislators initiated the action. It quotes republican politician and a UW spokesman, but it does not specifically mention that staff members have asked lawmakers do intervene. (There is, however, a link to a 7-month-old story that describes the concerns of some staff members.)
Doesn’t it violate the National Labor Relations Act to deliberately interfere with attempts to unionize? Not every single affected employee must agree– just a majority.
Unionization is the antithesis of intellectual pursuit which should be the hallmark of universities. Faculty unionization destroys intellectual honesty, shifts focus from “learning” to “earning” and creates an unhealthy US and THEM feeling between administration and faculty.
If a group wants to unionize, the taxpayers must insist revocation of tenure as a reasonable bargaining chip for allowing a union on campus.