Minutes of the Meeting of the Faculty
for February 15, 2011
PSF 25/10-11

 

The UW-Parkside Faculty met on Tuesday, February 15 at 3:30 p.m. in Greenquist Hall room 103. 

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 3:35 p.m. by Chancellor Ford.  Faculty attending the meeting were Fay Akindes, Simon Akindes, Jeffrey Alexander, Ross Astoria, Dirk Baldwin, Rob Barber, Kathlyn Barry,  Ami Bouterse, Terry Brown, Sylvia Beyer, Misti Bradford, Alice Chang, Terry Chi, Siegfried Christoph,  Patti Cleary, Norm Cloutier, Herb Colston, Seif Da’na, Parag Dhumal, William Ebben, Fred Ebeid, Kenneth French, Michele Gee, Kate Gillogly, Alan Goldsmith, Gail Gonzalez, Jerry Greenfield, Michael Gurtman, Stu Hansen, David Higgs, Peggy James, Dennis Kaufman, Jenny Keefe, Farida Khan, Laura Khoury, Shi Hae Kim, James Kinchen, Lisa Kornetsky, Abey Kuruvilla, Moses Langley, Mary Lenard, Penny Lyter, Matt Makarios, Greg Mayer, Lauren McCoy, Jay McRoy, Paul Mohazzabi, Anita Mysore, Daphne Pham, Dave Rogers, Helen Rosenberg, Mary Kay Schleiter, Jeffrey Schmidt, Ed Schmitt, Suzanne Swiderski, Susan Takata, Mary Trent, Adrienne Viramontes, Rich Walasek, Ed Wallen, John Ward, Gary Wood, Dean Yohnk, Rizvana Zameeruddin and Will Zheng.

 

Announcements

Chancellor Ford announced that in addition to the 2009-2011 budget repair bill currently under debate, the governor will be announcing his 2011-2013 budget shortly.  It is likely to contain substantial cuts to the UW System budget.  In addition, federal funding for higher education programs such as Pell Grants is also decreasing.  She spoke of the need for greater flexibility at the campus level and the important of advocating for our institution.

 

New Business

A motion was on the floor to approve the following resolution and accompanying statement.

Statement on the Proposed 2009-2011 Budget Repair Plan

Governor Walker’s budget repair proposal for the remainder of the 2009-2011 biennium would require that all state employees contribute an estimated 5.8% of their monthly income to the Wisconsin Retirement System, and would double the amount they are required to contribute toward their health insurance premiums.  These decreases in take-home pay would be added to the approximately 3% reduction that results from the mandatory furlough days.  Combining these three amounts will result in a 10% to 15% reduction in take home pay for UW-Parkside employees for April, May and June.  Because of the regressive nature of the health insurance increase, with all employees’ contributions increasing by the same dollar amount regardless of salary, the average monthly reduction will be most severe for lower paid members of the academic and classified staff.  This sudden, large decrease in take home pay not only places an unfair burden on state employees in general and on lower paid employees in particular, it is being imposed unilaterally thorough an undemocratic process designed to limit debate.

The Governor himself, as well as recent negative political advertisements paid for by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, have suggested that these changes are simply making up for the fact that, compared to workers in the private sector, state employees have not been shouldering their fair share of the state’s economic burden.  These ill-conceived statements pit worker against worker and portray government employees as the economic enemy and the cause of the state’s fiscal problems.

We strongly disagree with this characterization and its vilification of state employees, including University of Wisconsin faculty and staff.

A recent article from the Economic Policy Institute cites data showing that full-time state and local government employees in Wisconsin are undercompensated by 4.8% compared with otherwise similar private sector workers (Keefe, Jeffrey. “Are Wisconsin Public Employees Over-Compensated?”  February 11, 2011).  Further, the June 2010 report of the Competitive University Workforce Commission shows that UW-Parkside faculty salaries are 10-20% below those of faculty at comparable peer institutions, depending on faculty rank.  The discrepancy for lecturers is even greater.

Historically, the state employees’ benefits package has at least partially compensated for the fact that the salaries of UW System faculty and staff lag behind those of their peers in the private sector and at comparable public colleges and universities in the region.  For these reasons, we believe that any assertion that University of Wisconsin employees have not been contributing their fair share to the overall economy of the state of Wisconsin is nothing more than political rhetoric, and the negative advertising suggesting that University of Wisconsin employees do not deserve the compensation they have received is insulting and unnecessarily divisive.

Of equal concern are the portions of the budget repair plan that would affect collective bargaining.  These provisions would seriously limit the collective bargaining rights of most state employee groups including University of Wisconsin classified staff, and strip these rights entirely from University of Wisconsin faculty and academic staff.  This is an assault on the rights of workers to negotiate with their employers and a blatant attempt to concentrate power in the governor’s office.

Finally, reducing the take-home pay of state employees is a short sighted measure that will likely hurt the Wisconsin economy.  In Kenosha and Racine counties alone, a region that is already experiencing one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future estimates that an 8% reduction in the salaries of state employees would remove over $60 million from the local economies.

Resolved, that the Faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside object in the strongest terms to the governor’s budget repair proposal, the divisive manner in which the rationale for this proposal has been presented, and the undemocratic manner in which it is being rushed through the legislative process.

A subsidiary motion was also on the floor to move to a committee of the whole to discuss the resolution and other matters related to the 2009-2011 budget repair plan. 

The motion to move to a committee of the whole passed by a show of hands.  The Chair of the University Committee, Peggy James, assumed the chair.

The discussion that followed touched on a number of issues including the need to enhance the image of state workers in general and of university faculty and staff in particular, the need for increased participation in the political process, the importance of benefits in recruiting and retaining faculty and staff, mechanisms for keeping students and the community informed about these issues, the importance of keeping up the fight to preserve collective bargaining, the effects of a pay reduction on the local economies and possible responses to the budget repair bill, should it pass.

It was pointed out that the resolution speaks mainly to fairness and equity, but the governor and legislature are more interested in efficiency.  Arguments that speak to efficiency may be more successful.

At the conclusion of the committee of the whole discussion, the Chancellor resumed the chair.

A motion was made (Khan, Colston) to amend the statement accompanying the resolution by adding the phrase, the repercussions of which would further lower the tax base and worsen the budget.

 

The last paragraph of the statement would then read as follows.

Finally, reducing the take-home pay of state employees is a short sighted measure that will likely hurt the Wisconsin economy.  In Kenosha and Racine counties alone, a region that is already experiencing one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future estimates that an 8% reduction in the salaries of state employees would remove over $60 million from the local economies, the repercussions of which would further lower the tax base and worsen the budget.

 

The motion passed on a voice vote.

A motion was made (Mayer, Colston) to amend the statement accompanying the resolution by adding the following sentence.

In the long run, these draconian cuts will have a detrimental impact on the quality of education and will ultimately make the state less competitive and ill-equipped to handle future economic challenges.

 

The last paragraph of the statement would then read as follows.

Finally, reducing the take-home pay of state employees is a short sighted measure that will likely hurt the Wisconsin economy.  In Kenosha and Racine counties alone, a region that is already experiencing one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, the Institute for Wisconsin’s Future estimates that an 8% reduction in the salaries of state employees would remove over $60 million from the local economies, the repercussions of which would further lower the tax base and worsen the budget.  In the long run, these draconian cuts will have a detrimental impact on the quality of education and will ultimately make the state less competitive and ill-equipped to handle future economic challenges.

The motion passed on a voice vote.

The amended statement and the resolution were approved on a voice vote.  The approved statement and resolution becomes PSF 26/10-11.

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Submitted by,

Gary M. Wood

Secretary of the Faculty