Madison Reporter

University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority (UWHCA) officials are now free to voluntarily engage in the collective bargaining process with their nurses.

The opening comes courtesy of a formal opinion recently released by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, where Kaul declared UWHCA could choose to engage in negotiations about wages or other employment conditions. He further highlighted Act 10 in his reasoning, which ended the ability of public-sector workers to negotiate over any issues other than raises.

Not everyone was in accord with Kaul’s decision.

“While this opinion runs contrary to statements in the legislative history, Legislative Council opinions and our own internal and external counsel’s review, we respect the Attorney General’s opinion and will be discussing these conflicting legal opinions with our Public Authority Board at its next meeting,” UW Health press secretary Emily Kumlien told NBC15.com recently.

Back in late March, Gov. Tony Evers requested that Kaul come to a quick conclusion in deciding whether UWHCA is prohibited under state law from recognizing an organization chosen by nurses to represent them and engaging in negotiations about wages or other employment conditions. Evers added that a conclusion was previously reached by the Wisconsin Legislative Council in October of 2021.

“2011 Act 10 simply deleted the obligation and duty for UWHCA to engage in collective bargaining with its employees, and did not replace the former duty with language prohibiting collective bargaining,” and that UWHCA employees “may seek voluntary recognition by UWHCA,” the governor said.

Kaul was among those at odds with those findings, insisting that they ignored the reading of the statute. He further argued that conclusions that were drawn from statutory history cannot change what the text says.

“UW Health must recognize our union immediately in order to solve the spiraling crisis in our facilities, which includes dangerous understaffing and turnover that put patient care at risk,” the UW Health Nurse Union Organizing Committee told NBC15. “The strong majority of nurses have been calling for a union for over two and a half years. This entire time, UW Health’s central objection was the false assertion that they were legally prevented from recognizing us.”