12/13/2023
A message from Stout United Chair Alexi Books on pay raises and the lawsuit concerning collective bargaining rights:
Dear Colleagues,
Greetings from your Faculty & Academic Staff labor union (Stout United) and the affiliate Workers Center. We represent workers at UW Stout on a voluntary basis and so it is unusual for us to reach out to the emails of all staff & faculty regardless of union membership. Nevertheless, we believe that all members of the Stout community should be aware of certain recent events, and that it is important that you hear from us.
First and most recently, on December 8 UW System President Rothman announced he had negotiated a deal with Republicans in the state legislature to finally release our promised 4% pay raise along with several other items. In exchange, he offered concessions related to Republican demands that we cut DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work. Second, on November 30 public sector unions around Wisconsin filed a new legal challenge to restore our right to collectively bargain. What follows is more information about each of these events:
PAY RAISES
You can read the full text of the December 8 deal in the Board of Regents agenda here:https://www.wisconsin.edu/regents/download/meeting_materials/2023_meeting_materials/Meeting-Book---Special-Board-of-Regents-Meeting-(December-9,-2023).pdf
The Board met with the minimum legal transparency on December 9 and narrowly voted down the proposed deal (8-9). They are presently set to take up a deal with identical provisions during an emergency meeting at 5pm today.
Our raises are much needed and long overdue. However, as advocates for the rights of all workers at UW-Stout, we stand opposed to this terrible deal. Our raises are in a bill already passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor. To withhold them is a violation of that legislation. Rothman is now negotiating compromises with people who refuse to follow a previously negotiated agreement.
Nothing within the proposed deal offers protection against future rounds of salary hostage taking by members of the state legislature.
If the Board of Regents accepts this deal, it is reasonable to expect that every raise, every benefit going forward may be contingent on sacrificing more and more of our rights and values to a group of legislators who have made clear that they wish ill toward Wisconsin higher education, as well as toward members of our campus community. Consider two highlights of what the legislators get from the deal, and consider where they have left themselves room to demand more next time:
They demanded a “restructuring and reimagining” of 33% of positions focused on DEI to positions with a “primary focus on academic and student success”. Imagine being asked to close the Qube, eliminate the Fostering Success program, or disband Disability Services. They would give us the freedom to choose which services we halt, but while DEI-focused offices each serve a specific at-risk group on our campus, the benefits of their presence are felt by all of us. So far, the legislators are requiring us to cut just one third of DEI positions, but they have publicly called for the elimination of all DEI. They will be back for more.
They demanded the creation of an endowed chair of conservative political thought on the UW-Madison campus. Political appointees masquerading as faculty members will not stop at UW-Madison, and while they generously offered to fund this appointee, we see no reason to believe the next round of demands would include “philanthropic support”.
We, the Stout United union and Workers Center, thank the nine regents who voted against the proposed deal on Saturday, and we hope that they continue to stand strong.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
On November 30, public sector unions around Wisconsin filed a new legal challenge to restore our right to collectively bargain. A wide range of unions are included in this lawsuit, including the TAA in Madison, one of our sibling unions under the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). If this lawsuit is successful, it could restore our legal right to collectively bargain for good wages, benefits, and the working conditions we need to support ourselves and our students’ success.
ORGANIZE NOW
No law can remove our ability to organize and work together for the betterment of us all. We believe that the best way forward for us is through union organizing across all Stout employees. If you would like to join our Workers Center–open to all–and organize for a better UW-Stout, or if you would like to speak to an organizer, please reach out to us at stoutunited6503@gmail.com. We are staff and faculty here just like you, and we know exactly how much we all have on our plates right now. Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy day to read this message!
In solidarity
Alexi Brooks
Chair, Stout United AFT-6503
