Bills signed to provide wage increases for trade unit employees

On Friday, Governor Tony Evers signed two bills approving 4 percent wage increases for University of Wisconsin–Madison and UW System employees in the building trades collective bargaining units.

The rate change will be implemented on Feb. 11, 2024, and employees will realize the rate change on their March 7, 2024, paychecks. Payment for hours in pay status from July 2, 2023, through Feb. 10, 2024, will be issued on the March 21, 2024, paycheck.

Pay raises for trades employees, as part of the Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreements, were approved by the Joint Committee on Employee Relations (JCOER) in December. The agreements had to be approved by the full state legislature and the governor before implementation.

The pay increase is effective July 2, 2023. Employees who are in pay status on the date of implementation will receive a lump sum payment for the increase for all hours in pay status in the bargaining unit back to July 2, 2023. In addition, employees who have retired or died after Jan. 1, 2023, will also be eligible for the wage adjustment and lump sum payment.

Covered employees on an unpaid leave of absence will also receive the wage adjustment and lump sum payment for hours in pay status upon return from leave. Consistent with previous agreement implementations, employees who have resigned or been terminated will not receive the lump sum payment.

A pay plan for UW–Madison employees who are not part of the collective bargaining units and didn’t require further legislative or gubernatorial action, was also approved by JCOER in December and was implemented Jan. 11.