The Wisconsin legislature voted this week to approve a pay raise for all Wisconsin employees - except for those who work for for the University of Wisconsin system. Before taking the vote, Speaker Robin Vos carved out the tens of thousands of employees who work for the system because he wants the schools to stop practicing diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI)
Half of state workers, about 34,000 people, will not be getting pay raises included in the state budget, as a Republican-controlled committee on Tuesday approved a 6 percent raise over two years for all but those who work for the University of Wisconsin System.
The exclusion is a flashpoint in the ongoing fight over diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has vowed to block more than $100 million in funding for raises unless the universities eliminate all DEI positions.
Vos has criticized DEI programming as an attempt to "indoctrinate" students with taxpayer dollars. Universities have taken steps in response to the criticism, including no longer asking potential faculty to describe how they have used their work to further diversity, equity and inclusion.
But because the UW System is the only state agency that can create positions independently of the state legislature, Vos offered the compromise to permit the raises to go through if they agree to give up their autonomy:
"There is one agency in state government that is allowed to create positions outside the legislative process," Vos said in the committee hearing, referring to the university system.
Vos said he offered to approve the raises and in exchange "say that we will not increase the number of positions without the legislature's authority, just like every other agency in the state."
The fact of the matter is that Vos has taken hundreds of thousands of people hostage in an effort to force university authorities pay a ransom of either adapting to his racist demands or to give up their autonomy. Vos might claim that he is seeking a compromise with the UW system, but in reality, he is just committing extortion and strong armed robbery.
