Posted on 02/23/2011 8:51:14 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The labor rights and budget standoff gripping Wisconsin is affecting chemistry departments at public universities statewide. Many chemists and chemistry graduate students have joined the throngs of protesters at the state capitol and elsewhere in Madison.
"The crowds at our capitol are growing," says Judith N. Burstyn, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and chair of the executive committee of the faculty senate. "It's not clear at all what's going to happen."
Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker is in a dramatic standoff with Democrats in the state legislature over a budget repair bill he introduced on Feb. 11, designed to stanch a multimillion dollar shortfall in the state's budget. Democratic state senators have fled Wisconsin to block a vote on the bill; the state assembly is debating the bill.
The bill calls for government workers to pay more for their health insurance and pension plans, but the protests were sparked by the bill's provision to limit collective bargaining rights of public employee unions to wages only. Prominent Democrats, including President Barack Obama, have denounced the bill as a partisan attack on unions.
"This is not really about money. This is about power and control," says University of Wisconsin, Madison, chemistry professor Robert J. Hamers. The proposed bill affects chemistry departments in the University of Wisconsin system, he says, because its teaching assistants and some department staff are unionized, and faculty and staff are state employees.
But the bill's financial impacts can't be ignored, argues another chemistry professor, James M. Cook of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Most chemists working in Wisconsin's state university system make lower salaries than their counterparts in the private sector, and affordable benefits go hand in hand with scholarly freedom as selling points of the job, he says.
As a senior faculty member, "I'm going to be able to get through this," Cook says. But junior professors, students, and support staff will be harder hit by added contributions to benefit plans, he says.
Scholarly activity continues on Wisconsin's campuses, albeit with some disruption. The teaching assistant's union and the faculty senate at the Madison campus called for instructors who wish to attend protests to use their discretion when cancelling or rescheduling classes.
In the Madison chemistry department, notes on hallway blackboards, fliers, and word of mouth have helped organize walks to the capitol, says Brent Amberger, a chemistry teaching assistant and graduate student in professor Robert McMahon's group. "I'm 24. I've never really thought about unions and collective bargaining before," he says. "This experience has certainly opened my eyes."
Most private chemists do not have tenure (ie can’t be fired).
Most private chemists do not have their companies paying 100% of their retirement plans.
Most private chemists do not get the summer off. (These univeristy chemists can work for companies in the summer, and do.)
Most private chemists don’t have most or all of their health insurance premiums paid by their companies.
Most private chemists are not covered by very protective civil service laws, and in fact, can be fired for just about any reason, at any time.
Cry me an effing river.
teaching.....assistants....unionized....what...?
The International Brotherhood of Jazz Dancers, Pastry Chefs and Nuclear Technicians doesn’t look so far-fetched anymore, does it? (from The Simpsons, Last Exit to Springfield)
“Most chemists working in Wisconsin’s state university system make lower salaries than their counterparts in the private sector, and affordable benefits go hand in hand with scholarly freedom as selling points of the job, he says.”
I am highly skeptical about this assertion. Perhaps it was true 10 years ago. The value of job security and work conditions have increased because of the recession. Academic labor markets are very insular, isolated from normal market conditions. The market for business faculty is a good example. Business faculty in many disciplines used to have many opportunities in the private sector. Private sector offered higher compensation driving up faculty salaries. As a result, there were relatively few job applicants. The situation is now reversed. Changes in financial markets and heavy doses of regulation have reduced opportunities. Faculty openings draw hundreds of applicants yet faculty salaries continue to increase. In my field, new Ph.D. graduates cannot find academic positions. Yet starting salaries are perhaps higher than my considerable salary ($135k+). New professors could be hired at half my salary. I would have a difficult time to find a new position.
The faculty senate should be sanctioned for supporting walkouts. Anyone not teaching should be fined. There is no provision in any contract for not working because of political disagreements.
Where do alchemists stand on this?
Freepers are by far some of the most humorous people on the planet! Good ones! :)
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