Open Letter in Support of University of Wisconsin Students, Faculty and Staff

As scholars, teachers and citizens, we recognize that the right to form unions and bargain collectively has been essential to the establishment and enrichment of democracy in Wisconsin, in the United States and around the world. The International Labor Organization, which the United States joined in 1934, states that the right of workers and employers to form and join organizations of their own choosing is an integral part of a free and open society and includes collective bargaining rights among the fundamental principles and rights at work. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States endorsed in 1948, states that all workers have the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of their interests.

Since 1935, it has been federal policy in the United States to encourage collective bargaining as a tool for avoiding labor conflict and improving wages and working conditions in private industry. The state of Wisconsin led the way in extending those principles to the public sector, adopting a 1959 law stating that public employees, elected officials and the public itself all have an interest in industrial peace, regular and adequate income for the employee, and uninterrupted production of goods and services. Toward that end, the law affirmed that an employee has the right, if the employee desires, to associate with others in organizing and bargaining collectively through representatives of the employees own choosing, without intimidation or coercion from any source.

In 1968, African American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee went on strike for the right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining as city employees. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was in Memphis to support this effort when he was assassinated on April 4. The demands of the Memphis workers pointed out that basic labor rights are a fundamental civil and human right for all workers whether they be employed by the government or the private sector. Those workers ended up joining the union AFSCME - a union that was founded in Wisconsin in 1932.

We are opposed to the recent legislation passed in Wisconsin that will severely restrict the right to bargain collectively in Wisconsin. Some unions will only be allowed to bargain over wages. The legislation goes even further, completely banning the right to collective bargaining for certain public workers. Under the new law the University of Wisconsin-Madison Teaching Assistants Association, home health care and child care workers, and workers at the UW Hospitals will not be able to collectively bargain.

As faculty members at universities and colleges across the U.S., we oppose this legislation. We believe the restriction of the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association is a serious attack on the rights not only of public sector workers and university workers, but all workers. Furthermore, we see this legislation as part of a Governor Walkers larger agenda to cut social programs that are also vital for a healthy society. These policies attempt to balance the budget on the backs of workers, seniors, children and the poor instead of making corporations pay their fair share.

We stand in support of the graduate student, faculty and staff unions who are working to overturn this legislation. We believe that freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are fundamental principles for any democracy, and, as such, necessary for the effective functioning of educational institutions. We support students, faculty and staff in whatever efforts they choose to employ in order to overturn this unjust legislation and stop drastic program cuts throughout the state. This includes all means sanctioned by the widely adopted principles established by the International Labor Organization, such as the right to public protest and the right to strike.