UW-Madison students and Wisconsin Union employees rallied against a proposal to overhaul the unions and encouraged students to vote for the living wage referendum Thursday at Memorial Union.
Prior to the rally, the Student Labor Action Coalition released a flier with the catchphrase Wisconsin Union Financial Usurpation for Corporate Kickbacks,\ referred to as ""WUFUCK."" The flier said that the proposed Wisconsin Union Facilities Improvement Plan, would ""take more student money and put [it] in the hands of the UW administration and their corporate partners…""
Members of SLAC and Local 171, part of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, said they do not approve of passing WUFIP before the proposed living wage referendum. The demonstrators believe WUFIP, which would renovate Memorial Union and rebuild Union South, would create a need for more limited term employees and said the needs of current workers should be addressed first.
""We do not support WUFIP because the Union only wants to increase their revenue stream with catering and commerce. Currently 130 out of 151 workers between both unions do not make a living wage in Dane County,"" said Mike Imbrogno, a steward for Local 171.
Both referenda are up for student vote March 28-30.
Janell Wise, president of the Wisconsin Union Directorate and UW-Madison senior, said the flier is inaccurate and WUFIP is not about corporate kickbacks. WUD considered filing a formal complaint but did not because SLAC did not violate the rules governing student organizations.
""At this point we would rather inform students about what we are doing, not defend ourselves,"" Wise said. ""WUFIP is really about keeping students at the forefront of decision making and keeping students involved in the process of planning the union."" Wise said currently the salaries for LTE's are financed by a combination of food and beer sales, catering services and student segregated fees. If wages increased, students would most likely face higher segregated fees, greater food costs or cuts in Union services.
Currently the hourly wage for an LTE employee is $7.30. If the referendum passes, wages would increase to $10.23 per hour.
""We are trying to bring attention to the fact that the university is harboring a second-class work force by employing LTE's,"" Imbrogno said.
Demonstrators maintained WUFIP was designed with corporate interests in mind.
""They want Union South not to serve the interests of students, but to serve interests of corporations and businesses,"" said Ashok Kumar, UW-Madison junior, SLAC member and Dane County Board candidate.
""Students shouldn't have to pay for something that the state and private entities should pay for.""
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