Governor Evers endorses meet & confer while UW unveils NEW excuse for not meeting with grad workers after ASM legislation.
Story here by JT Cestkowski
Governor expresses support for meet and confer
“Gov. Evers believes workers should have a voice in the workplace and a seat at the table to be able to provide meaningful input on decisions that affect their livelihoods and work, and that includes supporting meet and confer for faculty and staff across the UW System and on respective UW campuses.
“We’ve had several discussions with leadership from UW System and faculty and staff, among others, about the governor’s support for and the importance of making a good-faith effort to meet and confer with faculty and staff, and Gov. Evers is committed to continuing to have these important conversations.”
University Response #1
“Chancellor Mnookin meets regularly with ASM and other campus shared governance groups to consult on a variety of institutional matters, including, but not limited to, working conditions.
“The shared governance groups are authorized by state statute or Regent policy and are the appropriate and exclusive vehicles at UW–Madison for representation and communication about faculty, staff, and graduate student working conditions.”
Then, ASM passed legislation in support of TAA. Now admin has a different story.
University Response #2
“The [TAA] is not recognized as the certified bargaining representative for UW-Madison graduate assistants at this time, Accordingly, the request to meet and confer and/or to engage in bargaining is not appropriate. The university works with ASM as the shared governance organization representative of student issues and concerns.
“It has been communicated to ASM that if it wishes to dedicate some or all of an established meeting time with the Chancellor to discuss graduate issues, with TAA representatives also in attendance, Chancellor Mnookin would be happy to participate in that conversation.
“The Graduate School also works closely with graduate students to understand and address issues and concerns,” Lucas, the university spokesperson, said. “We continue to take steps to improve the overall graduate student experience, including stipend increases, stipend forecasting and substantial investment in mentoring.”