Supporting higher education and those who make it possible is something everyone who is a part of the university community should agree on. But that support should not come in the form of an increasing burden
on students.

A proposal currently circulating in the state Legislature, introduced by Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, would allow UW System faculty and staff to unionize, increasing their bargaining clout in discussions concerning pay and benefit packages.

Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and 29 other public university systems across the nation allow faculty and staff to form unions, according to the American Federation of Teachers. Unionization, however, is more common among smaller universities, a Schultz spokesman said.

The plan could cost up to $2.5 million in administrative costs, according to an Associated Press article.

While high quality professors and other employees are critical to the System and deserve the right to organize, the plan allows for too many variables that could end up harming students.

With fiscal concerns at the forefront of state politics, spending money on more bureaucracy in the System may not be a frugal use of tax money in the legislature’s view. That being said, some of the cost may translate into increased tuition, especially if university employees were to secure large wage increases or benefit packages that state money could not support.

If other issues like class availability become bargaining chips in negotiations, students could again lose out.

Furthermore, if various unions across the state were allowed to collaborate, they could wield more power than any entity should ever have in the political arena.

Professors and other university employees deserve to pursue fair wages and benefit packages. But if unionization could lead to higher tuition or other hardships for the student body, then the proposal is self-defeating. Soon we could be pricing students out of the System, instead of professors.