A bill that would take away collective bargaining rights for UW teaching assistants stalled in the state Senate yesterday.
The only person to testify on behalf of Senate Bill 317 was its author, state Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, while members of the Teaching Assistants' Association looked on.
There was no discussion of the bill, and no vote was taken on the issue.
State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, a member of the hearing committee who was present at the meeting, believes that there is minimal support for the bill among legislators and the voting public.
'This is poor policy. Only the governor can decide this issue, and he won't support it,' said Hansen. 'I don't think this is going anywhere ... Hopefully we can put this behind us and move on.'
Karen Timberlake, director of the Office of State Employment Relations, agreed.
'Gov. Doyle is very supportive of collective bargaining rights for all state employees,' she said. 'We at the Office of State Employment Relations don't think that this is policy that the Legislature ought to be pursuing right now.'
Reynolds was not available for comment.
Reynolds introduced Senate Bill 317 in response to the TAA strike that occurred in April 2004, following a long period of conflict with the state over contract negotiations for both 2003-05 and 2005-07 periods.
Hansen said he agrees that TAs should not have to pay for health care and says that the TAA's right to collective bargaining should be protected.
'Teaching assistants bring in a lot of money for the university and help to provide quality education for students,' he said.
Timberlake also defended the TAA, saying that collective bargaining is a necessary tool for negotiations.
'Collective bargaining doesn't always work quickly, but it's a good system and it's an important set of rights that protect employees,' she said.
Cathy Rought, a public relations coordinator for the Wisconsin American Federation of Teachers, was optimistic about the outcome of yesterday's hearing.
'The lack of testimony today to support the bill sends a message that this is not legislation people want or believe in,' she said.
