From our colleagues at AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education Council:
Faculty and staff in the UW system have been pushing for the Board of Regents to recognize our unions and mandate that campus chancellors meet with elected union leadership to discuss salaries and working conditions. Gov. Evers supports union recognition, and now we just need the BOR to formally support it too. Please use this email template to let the regents know why YOU support our union members’ right to confer with administration about our working conditions.
You’ll need to edit the letter to reflect that you’re a community member rather than a worker, something like:
I’m writing to ask that you and your fellow board members pass a policy instructing UW campus chancellors to “meet and confer” with the democratically-elected representatives of UW faculty, staff, and grad worker unions (meet-and-confer is a set of regular meetings about working conditions is not the same thing as collective bargaining and is allowed by state law). As you know, Gov. Evers has come out in public support of faculty and staff voice through meet-and-confer because it will improve workplace relations and make sure students have the resources they need to be successful.
Thank you so much for your leadership. Can I count on you to do the right thing for UW campuses and work with your fellow regents to instruct our chancellors to meet and confer when unions ask for it?