Ensuring Collective Bargaining Act
Issue: Defending Workers & Families
Target Level of Office: State
Policy Origin: Wisconsin State Legislature
Poilcy/Bill Number: Senate Bill 558
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=194
YEO Co-Sponsors:
Sen. Chris Larson (Primary Co-Author) and Reps. Mandela Barnes, Eric Genrich, Daniel
Riemer, Katrina Shankland, and Mandy Wright
Summary Narrative of the Policy: Under this bill, all municipal employees may collectively bargain
over wages, hours, and conditions of employment under the state Municipal Employment
Relations Act and all state employees may collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions
of employment under the State Employment Labor Relations Act. Included are all employees of
the University of Wisconsin (UW) system, UW hospitals, and Clinics Authority as well as certain
home care and child care providers.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• Collective bargaining is the process in which working people, through their unions,
negotiate with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay,
benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, ways to balance work and family,
and more. Collective bargaining is a way to solve workplace problems.
• The rights of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life came under
significant attack in 2010, and so community members and American workers from
all occupations united to defend this basic right. In response to Wisconsin’s collective
bargaining reform, this bill allows all municipal and state public employees to collectively
bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment. If passed, this bill would have
mitigated Wisconsin Act 10’s limitation of workers’ pay raises and other conditions.
14
State Level
Policy
2014 Book