Hesselbein, Corrigan Spur County Board to Push for Workers at UW Hospital

July 18, 2013
Supervisor Dianne Hesselbein, 608.219.8127
County Board

 

County Supervisors Dianne Hesselbein and Sharon Corrigan will introduce a resolution at tonight’s meeting of the Dane County Board urging UW Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) to retain its unionized workforce and engage in good-faith collective bargaining, as has been done for more than 30 years.

“Five thousand people work under collectively bargained contracts at UWHC. Removing their union, and their bargaining rights, will destabilize a huge piece of the county’s workforce and economy,” said Hesselbein.

 

“These are health workers. These are the people taking care of us and our children,” said Corrigan. “These are the people keeping us healthy, and the people we turn to in times of real trial. We need the best and brightest in these positions, and we need them to be taken care of.”

 

The draft resolution notes that Wisconsin Act 10 eliminated most collective bargaining rights for public employees and forced most public employees to pay more for their health care and other benefits. This effective reduction in take-home pay has contributed to a lagging economy in Wisconsin, according to the resolution.

 

In addition to calling on UWHC to retain its unionized workforce, the resolution “repeats with great urgency” the County Board’s “call for the restoration of the rights of all public employees. The two year experiment in rolling back the right to collectively bargain has only succeeded in helping to stall our economy at a time when all Wisconsinites need it to thrive.”

 

The resolution will be referred to the Executive Committee and, if approved there, will come before the full Board on August 15.
 

 

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