Florida Regents vs. Unions
Jenny Brown
November/December 1996

If there was some doubt about how the Board of Regents of the State University System felt about unions, board member Steve Uhlfelder has laid it to rest. "I don't like collective bargaining in public universities" Uhlfelder said. "I'd like to see it eliminated. We don't need it." (Quoted by Ray Washington in the Sun, Oct. 4.)

Of course, collective bargaining was never to meet the needs of management, it was forced on management by workers, to meet their needs. No wonder the BOR isn't excited about unions. In a recent fight with the BOR, the United Faculty of Florida stood strong and beat back an attempt (led by Uhlfelder) to eliminate tenure. In the past few years, Graduate Assistants United fought hard to retain their tuition waivers, and UFF and AFSCME blocked an attempt by the legislature to cut the annual raise for state university workers. How dare those pesky workers expect to have a say in their wages and working conditions! After all, they only make the universities run. What is it exactly that Uhlfelder does, again?

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