Gov. Evers signs bills releasing UW System pay raises

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers Friday signed Senate Bill 846 and Senate Bill 847, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 92 and 2023 Wisconsin Act 93, respectively, providing four percent wage increases for employees in the building trades crafts collective bargaining units at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison and the UW System.

According to Evers, while these raises for UW building trades employees are based on the collective bargaining agreements between the UW Board of Regents and the Wisconsin State Building Trades Negotiating Committee, they match the four percent increase that was negotiated, agreed upon, and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature and Gov. Evers for the 35,000 non-represented UW employees in the 2023-25 biennial budget passed in July. Still, Evers noted, the wage increases signed into law by Gov. Evers today were long-delayed as the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) refused to authorize the collective bargaining agreements and introduce the legislation necessary for implementation. After nearly six months of Republicans’ unconstitutional obstruction of these increases, JCOER finally approved the wage adjustment for non-represented employees in December 2023 and, at the same meeting, also approved the collective bargaining agreements.

“As one of our state’s largest employers and economic drivers, our UW is critical to the well-being of kids, families, and communities in every corner of our state,” said Evers.

“All our UW faculty, staff, and workers should be treated with dignity and respect. So, while I’m glad these well-deserved pay increases will finally be in the hands of the UW building trades employees who’ve earned them, these workers never should have had their wages held up for political games in the first place. Period,” Evers noted.

“Republicans’ obstruction of basic functions of government have harmed tens of thousands of people across our state—folks, that’s wrong,” Evers continued.

“Wisconsinites expect government to work for them, not against them, and for elected officials to do their jobs and get things done. I will continue to fight every effort by Republicans in the Legislature to unconstitutionally and unlawfully obstruct our administration from doing the right thing for Wisconsin,” Evers added.

Friday’s bill signing comes as Evers filed a lawsuit in October challenging  what Evers says is an effort by legislative Republicans’ to unconstitutionally and unlawfully obstruct basic government functions, including blocking pay raises for about 35,000 UW System employees already approved through the biennial budget, repeatedly blocking conservation projects selected under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, and preventing updates to the state’s commercial building standards and ethics standards for licensed professionals. The governor’s lawsuit remains ongoing, and additional information is available here.

Senate Bill 846, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 92:
• Ratifies the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between UW-Madison and the Wisconsin State Building Trades Negotiating Committee for the 2023-24 fiscal year, covering employees in the building trades crafts collective bargaining unit and authorizing an expenditure of funds; and
• Provides a four percent general wage adjustment for employees within this bargaining unit, effective July 2, 2023.

Senate Bill 847, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 93:
• Ratifies the collective bargaining agreement for UW System employees in the building trades crafts collective bargaining unit for fiscal year 2023-24. The agreement was negotiated between the Board of Regents of the UW System and the Wisconsin State Building Trades Negotiating Committee; and
• Provides a four percent general wage adjustment for employees within this bargaining unit, effective July 2, 2023.