Students are boring

Student labor group renews call for higher wages at unions
Andrew Peck
The Daily Cardinal

A proposed referendum by the Student Labor Action Coalition would require Memorial Union and several other UW-Madison organizations to either pay employees a higher wage or lose funding.

The Union also provided a plan last week to deal with the issue of compensation for limited-term employees, who do not receive benefits, but it may not do enough, according to SLAC representative Josh Healey.

“The Union’s policy is about giving limited-term employees full-term employment, which is very important, but it doesn’t necessarily say anything about all workers having a living wage, so it doesn’t affect students,” Healey said.

However, he acknowledged that “what the Union is doing doesn’t contradict what we’re doing; our initiative should compliment, not add to what they’re doing.”

But Michael Imbrogno, a representative of Local Union 171 and employee of Memorial Union, remains skeptical of the Union’s plan. “We’ve heard this song and dance before,” he said, “and I don’t believe it until it actually happens.”

Shayna Hetzel, vice president of external relations for the Wisconsin Union said the Union is neither for, nor against the proposal.

“If it passes, we’d work with the University and other auxiliaries to find a way to implement it,” Hetzel said.

Continued...