(Birthday Boost Pledge Drive night, too!) — The State & UW Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC)…Inspired by the Walmart workers group (OUR Walmart) and Fast Food workers demonstrations and strikes, SWOC is a group of state employees organizing for direct action to improve our pay and working conditions and get a voice on the job.  We are seeking to connect with our coworkers in state agencies and the UW who share the goal of working together to improve our situation. We are especially seeking to reconnect with coworkers who are not union members.  We plan to work with unions and many of us are union members ourselves. They have plenty to discuss on the program and also take calls and play some musical interludes.  

The hope is to introduce audience members to the group and talk about why it’s important.  They discuss topics such as why merit pay and bonuses are unfair and inefficient, what a fair pay system would look like, the outsourcing at UW Superior and elsewhere, the probable layoffs of janitors there, and the spiraling pay of UW Administrators.  They also can talk about Health & Safety on the job as an important topic for collective action.  Why doesn’t UW honor the Living Wage and why are so many state employees making under $15 an hour?  Quantify the value of state employees to particular programs and to the taxpayer.  And look at the new law that allows classified government research at UW and what that could mean.