Colleagues,
You have read the news. We as faculty and as a university community are under attack on matters such as:
- After years of no raises and furloughs, through the governor’s proposed budget repair bill we now face an instant and significant pay cut.
- Our Faculty Senate just adopted core principles to guide negotiations between the State and UW. One of those core principles, the right of staff, graduate students and faculty to engage in collective bargaining, would now be violated.
You know that the alleged justification for these proposed actions is not true: The claim that public employees are overpaid is directly at odds with data and analysis showing that we are rewarded less well than comparable private sector employees.
We want to bring to your attention the initiative being taken by a broad coalition of groups, including the Associated Students of Madison and the Teaching Assistants Association, to organize two days of action this week at the Capitol:
11:00 am Tuesday and Wednesday, February 15-16
We will continue to keep you informed as we learn more about this dire situation. We are concerned for the future of our great state university.
We also draw your attention to this article that appeared in today’s issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Joe Salmons, president, PROFS Steering Committee
Judith Burstyn, chair, PROFS Board of Directors