Yesterday, the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) met and took action on the State of Wisconsin employee pay plan but did not take action on the pay plan for Universities of Wisconsin employees, including UWM employees. As a reminder, in the 2023-25 biennial operating budget, the state Legislature approved, and the governor signed, a 4% increase for Universities of Wisconsin employees for 2023 and another 2% for 2024. Those increases required final approval by JCOER before going into effect.
On Tuesday, JCOER only approved increases for state employees who are not part of the Universities of Wisconsin. Although this is not a final decision, we share your disappointment that JCOER did not act on the already-promised increases for our employees.
Unless the committee meets again to approve the pay plan for the Universities of Wisconsin, 41,000 employees across the state will see their paychecks fall further behind in light of soaring inflation rates. That means fewer resources to pay bills, care for their families and reinvest in Wisconsin’s economy.
At UWM, 3,400 employees will lose out on pay they have already earned. And those employees in the lowest pay tiers would lose out the most. Chancellor Mone has already announced a plan to use 10% of the salary pool to fund larger raises for those employees who make $55,000 a year or less. This means all employees would receive a pay increase of at least 3.6%, while those who are paid the least would receive more.
We continue to work with Universities of Wisconsin leadership to advocate for the pay plan, which is a top priority. Despite the setback this week, we will do everything possible to persuade JCOER to approve the pay plan for our employees.
We understand that many university employees are frustrated and would like to take action in support of the Universities of Wisconsin pay plan. To ensure employees do so in a legal and ethical manner, here are some of the Universities of Wisconsin guidelines: