Letter: Why need a union?

All for the students? As one who has never been a union member, I’m curious about why the newly formed union of UW-River Falls professors will dissolve if Gov. Walker’s budget repair bill becomes state law.

What exactly would the professors gain through collective bargaining beyond higher pay and more financial benefits?

There must be issues of working in substandard university facilities for too many hours a week and too many months a year. Or, it takes too long to earn tenure and the lifetime job security it brings.

What else could be at stake? As a taxpayer unable to partake in public union negotiations, I’d like to know this: How will unionized and potentially more satisfied professors guarantee UW-RF students a measurably better education than they are getting now?

After all, it is about the students, isn’t it?

Tags: town of river falls, opinion, letters, politics