State commission allows unit clarification petitions to proceed
Academic staff at some UW System campuses could be assigned to state employee unions without voting on whether to be included, the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission ruled last week (Nov. 11).
After a provision was inserted into the 2009–11 state budget giving academic staff the right to unionize, some state employee unions filed unit clarification petitions with the commission. They argued that hundreds of academic staff positions at six UW campuses, not including UW–Madison, don’t meet the statutory definition of academic staff and should be converted to classified staff positions.
Such conversions would mean employees would be assigned to unions without a vote.
Although UW–Madison is not among the campuses affected by the unit clarification petitions, the unions have announced plans to file similar claims regarding UW–Madison academic staff.
UW–Madison’s Academic Staff Executive Committee and Academic Staff Assembly have both passed motions opposing the process because it takes away the right of academic staff to decide whether or not to be part of unions.
Academic staff who could be affected are those considered Category A, meaning they are working largely in noninstructional jobs.
The commission’s ruling denied motions from UW System and the Office of State Employment Relations to dismiss the unit clarification petitions. The matter is expected to reach the courts.