Three unions, all of which represent UW System employees, filed petitions with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Committee to include the employees in unions last week.
The petitions claim that some university employees perform the same duties as union members but themselves are not union members because of their job titles. The unions are asking that these employees be reclassified so they can be part of a unit with a bargaining agreement.
If the WERC approves the petitions, it would effectively force about 130 UW employees to unionize.
The University of Wisconsin System is opposed to the proposal, and will file a motion with WERC to deny the petitions.
According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, the UW System believes the decision should be up to individual employees, not the unions.
""Because we believe that employees should be the ones to make this choice, we are going to oppose that petition,"" Giroux said.
""We're not talking about employees voting to organize. We are not opposed to unionization,"" Giroux added. ""What we are opposed to is forcing people to do something in a process where they absolutely have no vote.""
