Collective bargaining for employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority

Prior to changes made by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 , employees of the UWHCA had the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment, and UWHCA was required to bargain over those subjects. The bill restores those rights and also authorizes UWHCA employees to enter into maintenance of membership agreements.

Current right-to-work law prohibits a person from requiring, as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment, an individual to refrain or resign from membership in a labor organization, to become or remain a member of a labor organization, to pay dues or other charges to a labor organization, or to pay any other person an amount that is in place of dues or charges required of members of a labor organization. The bill removes these prohibitions with respect to employees of the UWHCA.

The bill also does the following:

1. Sets conditions under which the UWHCA may enter into an all-union agreement.

2. Provides that, when an all-union agreement between the UWHCA and the representative of a collective bargaining unit is in effect, it is not an unfair labor practice to deduct labor organization dues or assessments from an employee's earnings.

3. Sets conditions for the continuation or termination of all-union agreements, including that, if the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission determines there is reasonable grounds to believe employees in an all-union agreement have changed their attitude about the agreement, WERC is required to conduct a referendum to determine whether the employees wish to continue the agreement.

WERC is required to terminate an all-union agreement if it finds the union unreasonably refused to admit an employee into the union.