August 14, 2013
After General Electric's CEO addressed the UW Board of Regents at its July 2013 meeting, TAA member Eleni Schirmer explains why the General Electric university is not Wisconsin's brightest idea.
August 14, 2013
UFAS is sorry to see the departure of Chief of Staff Julie Schmid from AFT-Wisconsin, but we wish her well as the new executive director for the American Association of University Professors. Thank you, Julie, for all your service and support, and keep up the terrific work in your new position!
August 8, 2013
On August 6, 2013, UW-Madison announced a pay raise for TAs and most PAs. However, the official story left out the year-long “Pay Us Back” campaign that the TAA ran (and UFAS supported) which culminated in these raises. As TAA member Eleni Schirmer put it: "What [Vice Chancellor Darrell] Bazzell means is, grad assistants at UW can come to the table because they have a union. And because they have a union, fairness gets raised as an issue. UW, let us know if you need help with the next press release."
This is good news not only for TAA members, but for faculty and academic staff too. Adequate pay for graduate workers is crucial for maintaining the high quality of the UW’s academic programs and ensuring that departments remain competitive in attracting and retaining the most talented graduate students. Moreover, this victory for our sister union the TAA shows how all of Wisconsin's public employees can still win gains with direct action and informal bargaining, even after losing legal collective bargaining rights to Scott Walker's Act 10. Great work, TAA!
In August 2013 the South Central Federation of Labor's Union Labor News reported on the administrative appeal hearing of Charity Schmidt, co-president of our sister union the TAA (AFT Local 3220). UFAS members testified in support of Schmidt at the hearing.
July 9, 2013
Wisconsin Public Radio News reports that a Madison federal judge temporarily barred the Capitol Police from requiring permits for groups smaller than 20 to protest in the Capitol building.The plaintiff is none other than United Faculty and Academic Staff member and UW-Madison assistant professor Michael Kissick. Thank you, Michael, for standing up for the rights of Wisconsin citizens!
November 27, 2012
The following resolution was sent to the UW-Madison Chancellor Search and Screen Committee on November 27, 2012.
Dear Professor McDonald,
I am writing in my capacity as a tenured faculty member at UW-Madison and vice president of United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS), AFT Local 223, to you in your capacity as chairman of the UW-Madison Chancellor Search and Screen Committee.
July 2, 2013
The Wisconsin State Journal has yet to publish AFT-Wisconsin President Bryan Kennedy's op-ed about Palermo's Pizza, student protest, and misuse of the UW-Madison code of conduct. We think it ought to be published and read:
May 6, 2013
The AFT-Wisconsin Higher Education Council released the following statement on May 6, 2013, concerning the redesign of the UW Personnel Systems and revelations that the UW System had accumulated a surplus that exceeded $1 billion.
CONTACT: Bryan Kennedy
PHONE: 414-517-3864
March 22, 2013
MADISON, Wis. – On March 18, a special committee of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents recommended Dr. Rebecca Blank to become the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. United Faculty and Academic Staff welcomes Dr. Blank and looks forward to working with her. United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS) is an independent affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, Local 223, AFL-CIO, democratically organized to represent faculty and academic staff at both UW-Madison and UW-Extension.
The elected leadership of United Faculty & Academic Staff sent an open letter on October 1, 2012, to the members of the UW–Madison Faculty Senate and Academic Staff Assembly expressing strong concerns about the university’s Human Resources Design Project (HRDP).