PROFS Response to The New York Times

Judith Burstyn, Chair of the PROFS Board of Directors, and Joe Salmons, President of the PROFS Steering Committee sent the following letter to The New York Times:

Thank you for your excellent and continuing coverage of the Wisconsin state budget process. Higher education collective bargaining rights are central to these discussions. Faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison do not ourselves bargain, and we hold widely divergent views about whether we should do so. However, we view negotiated working conditions, benefits and pay as invaluable for our graduate student workers, professional and civil service staff. Bargaining has helped to provide a secure living and a stable working environment, which has allowed our university to thrive. Stripping university and other state employees of the right to bargain will irreparably damage that fabric, and tear the heart out of Wisconsin’s Progressive legacy.

Judith Burstyn

Joseph Salmons