AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education E-News for
United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS),
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 223
Table of Contents - August 2008
1. Walk the Talk: Join Unionists on Sept. 4 for "Labor Walks"
2. TAUWP member part of Obama Event in Eau Claire
3. "Star Fund" lawsuit draws attention to salary shortfalls
4. UFAS Call for Organizer Training + Committee Participation
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1. Walk the Talk: Join Unionists on Sept. 4 for "Labor Walk"
This past Saturday, multiple UFAS members as well as TAUWP members from six campuses joined with each other for a "Labor Walk" in Whitewater to support the re-election of State Representative (and TAUWP member) Kim Hixson.
On September 4th (THUR), two months before Election Day, YOU are invited to join fellow members of UFAS to participate in a "Labor Walk" to talk with fellow members of the AFL-CIO about the choices that November 4th will present.
In case it sounds like a chore to participate in the Union's "Labor Walk," you can find photos of the Whitewater event online at <http://www.aft-wisconsin.org/single_pic.cfm?PicID=76519&gallery=August%2023%20Labor%20Walk> where plenty of happy faces are preparing to mix a healthy dose of walking, talking, listening, and organizing.
To REGISTER your participation for Thursday's (9/4) action and to get more details, please respond to this email TODAY.
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2. TAUWP member part of Obama Event in Eau Claire
Did you see the news about Presidential candidate Barack Obama meeting with a group of 300 invited guests in Eau Claire this past Sunday?
TAUWP member (and UW-Stout professor) Martin Ondrus was part of the happening (as were others who have joined recent "Labor Walks") and he shares the following report:
"I was fortunate to be one of six people representing AFT at the Obama rally in Eau Claire on Sunday, August 24. Barack Obama arrived with a smile on his face, spoke with eloquence, and displayed a quiet charisma that was captivating. I was particularly intrigued by his single-parent childhood and the fact that (like most Americans of modest means) he needed loans and scholarships to help fund his college education. It was apparent that he understands and will work for low and middle-income people. As he began to list a variety of middle-class occupations, the first that he mentioned was 'teachers'. After 37 years of teaching in Wisconsin, I have grown skeptical of the words and promises of politicians, but he convinced me that he values education from preschool through college. He proposes making a college education affordable for all who wish to attend but expects them to earn it by performing public service. He emphasized that 'this election is not about me. It is about you'. This was an uplifting event that left participants with a sense of hope for our nation and our grandchildren."
To see photos of Obama and each of the AFT members at the Eau Claire event, you can go to the AFT-Wisconsin website at <http://www.aft-wisconsin.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_pics.cfm&viewmode=thumb&gallery=Barack%20Obama%20in%20Eau%20Claire>.
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3. "Star Fund" lawsuit draws attention to salary shortfalls
Following action by TAUWP, the Union's litigation against the "star fund" has gained popular traction across the state. An Associated Press (AP) article is copied here that describes the initial filing:
"Union sues UW-Platteville over retention fund plan
Aug 1, 5:40 PM EDT
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A faculty union is suing the University of Wisconsin-Platteville over the way its chancellor wants to award merit pay increases.
The case could help decide how a new $10 million fund is awarded across the University of Wisconsin System. Lawmakers created the fund last year to help recruit and retain faculty members and researchers, whose salaries are lagging behind those at rival schools.
The UW System told campuses to use the money to give raises to key employees or to sweeten the salaries of incoming workers.
But leaders of The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals, which represents faculty and academic staff on UW campuses, worry administrators will use the fund to reward favored employees and departments while shortchanging others. They advocate an across-the-board distribution to departments, who could then divvy up the money based on merit.
The group's lawsuit seeks to stop UW-Platteville Chancellor David Markee from implementing his plan to award the school's $210,000 share of the fund.
Filed Thursday in Dane County, the lawsuit claims that faculty leaders on each campus must have a say in how any merit pay is distributed. The lawsuit cites a 1995 ruling by a judge in a similar dispute involving UW-Platteville that the administration cannot force the implementation of any such pay plan without faculty approval.
The lawsuit says the UW-Platteville Faculty Senate proposed a formula to award the money last year. Markee did not follow that idea and instead approved a different plan, which exceeds his authority, the suit claims.
The suit seeks to stop Markee from awarding any more funds until he reaches a deal with the faculty and an accounting of the raises he has already awarded.
"It is an outrage that the administration would so blatantly violate the spirit and the letter of the law," union leader Ray Spoto, a UW-Platteville professor, said in a statement. "The fund attempts to put a Band-Aid on the gushing wound of academic staff and faculty undercompensation. This only serves to demoralize UW professionals further."
Markee was out of the office Friday afternoon and a university spokeswoman said no one was available to address the issue.
UW System spokesman David Giroux would not comment on the lawsuit. But he said hundreds of key UW System employees would benefit from the fund. About $3.3 million of the money was handed out in the budget year that ended June 30 while an additional $6.6 million will be awarded in the current budget year.
"These dollars are to be used in a targeted fashion to either keep somebody on the campus who is in danger of leaving or to help make our initial offer to an incoming faculty member a little bit more attractive," he said. "If anyone is asserting that a more across-the-board approach would be better, that is contrary to the direction we gave."
Mark Evenson, the president of TAUWP, said he expected other faculty senates to take up the issue this fall. Faculty members, not administrators, should evaluate the performance of their peers, he said.
"We are really questioning whether it's the role of the administration to just start taking this money and dividing it up according to the way it prefers," he said. "It's a systemwide issue.""
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4. UFAS Call for Organizer Training
One of several new opportunities for members to participate in UFAS include an upcoming Organizer Training to be held as part of AFT-Wisconsin's Union Leadership Institute.
Starting on the evening of September 12 (FRI), UFAS members are invited to join a two-and-a-half-day training that will support your development of UFAS. A full description of the Institute (with registration options) is online at <http://www.aft-wisconsin.org/index.cfm?zone=/unionactive/view_calendar.cfm&calendarID=1531701&thisdate={ts%20%272008-09-01%2000:00:00%27}&useCalSection=main> and a description of the Organizer workshop is copied here:
Building the Local: Is your local relying on a small handful of members to serve on committees and handle other key tasks? Your union’s success depends on the broad-based activism of the membership. This course will examine techniques to organize and develop activists and leaders within your local, and to identify your local’s priorities and outline a plan to mobilize members around those issues.
