Academy for Academic Personnel Administration

Fall 2003

Round Table Report

 

1.  Institution Information

 

Name of Institution/System: University of Wisconsin System, UW-Milwaukee

 

Name of Individual Responding: George Brooks             

 

Title of Individual Responding: Associate Vice President for Human Resources

 

2a. Description of Faculty Bargaining Unit(s) – Size and Composition

 

Graduate Assistants: 755 graduate assistants employed as Teaching, Program, and Project Assistants at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 

Bargaining Agent: Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association

 

Date of First Contract:  May 1992

 

Number of Succeeding Contracts:  5 (2 year contracts coincide with budget cycle)

 

3. Activity Report (e.g., status of current agreement or negotiations, details of last contract settlement, etc.):

 

Due to bargaining and legislative delays, the 2001-03 contract became effective in May 2003 with an expiration date of June 30, 2003.  The 2001-03 contract has been extended for the initial stages of bargaining a 2003-05 contract.

 

To address recruitment problems, the 2001-03 agreement contained a supplement to the “official pay plan” of 1% in 2001-02 and 2% in 2002-03 by reallocating institution funds.  As a result, the final agreement for 2001-03 contained an average wage increase of 10%.

 

Negotiations for a 2003-05 contract began in June 2003 but no economic offers or demands have yet been made.  With budget shortfalls, it is expected the state labor relations office will offer no wage increase for 2003-04 and a 1% increase in 2004-05.  To date there do not appear to be substantial non-wage/benefit issues from the union.

 

4. Special or noteworthy happenings (e.g., relevant arbitration or court decisions, organizing campaigns, labor agency decisions, etc.)

 

While we note with interest court decisions and other political activity related to domestic partner issues, we perceive no change in previous positions taken by our state legislature.  The majority party has consistently opposed expanding any rights, specifically in health insurance coverage, to domestic partners.

 

 

5.  Special happenings related to fiscal issues (e.g., salary reductions, health and dental insurance costs, reductions in force, early retirement programs, program consolidation or elimination, etc.):

 

In a period of budget deficits and funding reductions (the University System received a base budget cut for the biennium of $250 million, with an allowed offset of $150 million generated by increased tuition dollars), the state of Wisconsin has reduced its funding of health insurance premiums with the expectation that all state and university employees, most of whom pay no share of the monthly premium, will be required to pay a portion of the premiums.  This will be a major issue for graduate assistants and all other university faculty and staff.

 

The University System is required to eliminate 645 positions by the end of the biennium (June 30, 2005).  However, those position cuts will not be apportioned to the graduate assistants.