Statements
UFAS Sanctuary Union Resolution (September 11, 2025)
Statement on Police Violence (May 4, 2024)
Newsletters
Throughout the year we send newsletters with all updates, campaigns, actions, and committee reports. Aside from attending a General Membership Meeting or Happy Hour, they’re the best way to get a sense of all the work we do! See the list below for some recent goings on or subscribe to our newsletter here.
Campaigns
Administrative Regional Teams (ARTs) – Letter to the Chancellor
UW-Madison’s College of Letters and Science is reorganizing administrative staff into a ‘shared services model’, in alignment with the implementation of the new HR software, Workday. Certain administrative staff will be grouped into ‘administrative regional teams’ also referred to as ARTs, PODs, or SLACs. Workers are concerned about this move, including:
- the lack of clear business case (or a ‘why’) for the restructuring
- UW system and UW-Madison leadership pursuing the move without meaningful input from staff and faculty
- potential for loss of institutional knowledge, as this could push workers into early retirement.
Read the full letter sent to Chancellor Mnookin by various labor organization leaders here.
Meet and Confer
Many AFT-Wisconsin higher education locals—including the Teaching Assistants Association at Madison—have asked our chancellors to engage in a process called “meet and confer” to exchange ideas about making our workplaces better and ensuring our students have the resources they need to be successful. This process is not collective bargaining, is completely legal, and, given where we are, a collaborative effort between administration and our UW system workers has never been more important.
Instead of listening to the voices of their own faculty and staff, however, every administration has said no. Moreover, several have told their own employees they cannot listen to their own workers if they are organized in a union. (This is ironic considering that the legislature previously vitiated the sharing of university governance with students, academic staff, and faculty a decade ago.) In short, administrators are expending a great deal of university resources – at a time when those resources are limited – to tell us they don’t want us to be part of the conversation.
If we are going to have a functioning university system, grounded in the ideals of high-quality education and academic freedom, much less rebuild our UW system as the national crown jewel of higher education that it deserves to be, it is imperative that UW administration backs down from trying to intimidate faculty and staff from exercising their rights to collective action and advocacy for our students.
Thus, locals around the state are calling on the Board of Regents, the UW system, and campus chancellors’ offices to immediately do the following:
- Respect the rights of faculty and staff to exercise their collective voice through their union
- Agree to legal meet and confer relationships with the elected leadership of faculty and staff AFT-Wisconsin chapters when they ask administration for it and engage in good faith efforts to exchange ideas about improving campus working conditions and student learning conditions
- Refrain from engaging in efforts to intimidate faculty and staff from joining and getting involved with their faculty and staff union
- Cease and desist efforts to eliminate academic programs, lay off faculty and staff, or reduce academic options for students without the explicit support of faculty and staff on those campuses
Paid Family Leave
Starting in the 2023-2024 academic year, UFAS members organized to collect signatures from our department chairs and directors in an escalating campaign demanding a comprehensive policy of 12 weeks paid family and medical leave. Our work pushed the Chancellor to take a momentous first step, conceding 6 weeks of parental leave, UW-Madison’s first official parental leave policy.
While we celebrate this milestone, this first step lags far behind our peer institutions and we continue to advocate for a full 12 weeks of family and medical leave.
TTC Response
UFAS members have organized throughout the duration of the Title and Total Compensation project to collect staff concerns, relay those concerns to UW-Madison leadership, and increase transparency. These efforts have included surveying staff and drafting statements, and even most recently pushing for the initial appeals deadline to be extended from December 2021 to February 2022.
Moral Restart
Together with our fellow unions in the University Labor Council, UFAS spoke out in protest of UW-Madison’s dangerous reopening plan in August 2020 with worker panels, a socially-distanced protest, interviews and listening sessions. Instead of a “Smart Restart” that prioritized budgets over people, we advocated for a worker-centered plan that put safety first. As the pandemic continues, we continue: to push for accommodations for high-risk workers, remote work flexibility, and equity-centered reopening plans.
Moral Restart Demands
UFAS in the news
Reporters and journalists often reach out for quotes, comments, and perspectives from UFAS membership. See some recent selections in local and regional media below.
‘We deserve a seat at the table’: UW system unions protest as Board of Regents passes mass faculty layoffs
Daily Cardinal, August 24, 2024
Thousands of UW employees to get 6 weeks paid parental leave
WKOW.com, April 4, 2024
Campaign pushes UW-Madison to reconsider family leave policies
Daily Cardinal, February 1, 2024
‘Political attacks’: UW-Madison employees react to massive UW-Oshkosh layoffs
WKOW.com, October 22, 2023
UW Title And Total Compensation Plan In Question
Labor Radio, WORT, January 7, 2022
UW System honors Charek Briggs for LGBTQ+ advocacy
UW-Madison News, November 17, 2021
Job and salary study for UW staff brings new pay ranges and some worries
Wisconsin State Journal, October 30, 2021
As UW-Madison classes near, some employees worry about lack of vaccine or mask mandate
Wisconsin State Journal, July 23, 2021
New pay schedule at UW campuses prompts questions and concern for lowest-paid employees
Wisconsin State Journal, July 15, 2021
As restrictions loosen, campus community wrestles with renewed student gathering guidelines
The Daily Cardinal, March 11, 2021
ASM votes ‘no confidence’ in Chancellor for Finance and Administration
Badger Herald, February 9, 2021
One more campaign: Tommy Thompson leads the UW System at a critical time
Cap Times, January 27, 2021
UW rejects instructor’s grievance citing ‘systemic harassment’ in math department hiring
Cap Times, January 15, 2021
UW-Madison fires employee who drove motorcycle through protesters
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 10, 2020
A week into UW-Madison classes, everyone has an opinion on how to proceed
Wisconsin State Journal, September 6, 2020
Wisconsin Colleges Push Ahead With Reopening Plans As COVID-19 Cases Surge
Wisconsin Public Radio, August 5, 2020
UW-Madison students concerned about university’s reopening plan
NBC15.com, July 29, 2020
Survey: Majority of UW staff uncomfortable to return to campus
WKOW.com, July 28, 2020
Working off-campus, UW staff request delay on title, pay review discussions
The Cap Times, April 13, 2020
United Faculty & Academic Staff 