INFURIATING. No, not Walker's proposal, which I will describe, but that I wrote this entire post and then lost it because of Charter Cable. Now I seek refuge at Michelangelo's to deliver the People of Sconz Nation the latest in the Walker adminstration's proposals for the budget repair bill
The bill would eliminate collective bargaining rights for UW faculty and academic staff, as well as for UW Hospitals and Clinics workers.
Walker, in proposing to bar collective bargaining for UW faculty, is taking advantage of an already-fierce controversy over unionization on the UW campuses that started after Democrats granted thousands of faculty and staff the right to collectively bargain in the last budget. In fact, many professors who were previously campaigning for the right to form bargaining units were turned off by the attempts of large state unions, including AFSCME, to have all UW faculty assigned to their units.
Slightly less understandable is the bill's prohibition of collective bargaining rights for UW health care workers, especially in light of the exemptions from all the collective bargaining changes granted to state troopers and firefighters. My guess is that the move is part of an attempt to cut Medicaid spending or Walker simply figures gutting UW unions is a good opportunity for taking on any others on campus.( Interesting fact; The only union contract conservative Democrat Peggy Krusick voted to approve in December was the one for nurses represented by SEIU, the union that represents UW nurses.)
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