Wisconsin Science Professionals (WSP) is a government-worker union representing scientific workers for the State of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. It is Local 3732 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and is affiliated with AFT Wisconsin and the AFL-CIO. ¹

Background

Wisconsin Science Professionals is an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union local representing professional scientists who work for the State of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin (UW), and UW Hospitals and Clinics Authority. It claims to represent more than 1,400 workers across Wisconsin. ²

WSP is a member of the South Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (SCFL), which is a left-of-center organizing and activism coalition created and led by labor unions and left-of-center organizations in south-central and southwestern Wisconsin, including Madison. ³ The SCFL was involved in organizing “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration in 2025. ⁴

2010 University of Wisconsin Campaign

In 2009, Wisconsin passed a law to allow the unionization of faculty and academic staff in the University of Wisconsin System. ⁵ After the law’s passage, Wisconsin Science Professionals reportedly sent letters to faculty and academic staff members informing them that it planned to file petitions with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to have science faculty and academic staff assigned to its bargaining units.  ⁶

WSP was one of many labor unions to send these letters, with some workers reportedly receiving letters from multiple unions. WSP’s fellow AFT Wisconsin unions, including the Wisconsin Professional Employees Council; Professional Employees in Research, Statistics and Analysis; and the Wisconsin Physician and Dentist Association, ended up filing petitions, along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)-affiliated Wisconsin State Employees Union, but WSP did not.  ⁶ According to a statement from WSP, its board ultimately felt that unionization through “unit clarification does not give these employees the choice they deserve.”  ⁶

This concern about worker choice was echoed by David Ahrens, then-president of the United Faculty and Academic Staff, a union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that had voluntary membership and did not have collective bargaining powers. “Having a couple thousand academic staff involuntarily assigned is simply undemocratic,” he said.  ⁶

The move was also opposed by the UW-Madison Academic Staff Executive Committee, which unanimously passed a resolution opposing the involuntary appointment of academic staff to units covered by collective bargaining agreements.  ⁶

Protection of Disciplined Crime Lab Employees

In 2015, a review of public records by the Associated Press found that eight workers represented by the Wisconsin Science Professionals at the Wisconsin Justice Department’s crime lab had been reprimanded or suspended between 2002 and 2006.  ⁷ These included an employee who had been drunk at work; a fingerprint analyst who falsified test results; two other workers who made repeated mistakes in fingerprint identification, and a lab worker who accessed pornographic websites at work.  ⁷ None of these workers were fired, in part due to union intervention. Then-WSP president Gary Steffen dismissed them as “isolated incidents.” ⁷

1. “Affiliations.” Wisconsin Science Professionals. Accessed September 29, 2025. https://wsp.wi.aft.org/about-us/affiliations.
2. “About Us.” Wisconsin Science Professionals. Accessed September 29, 2025. https://wsp.wi.aft.org/about-us.
3. “About Us.” SCFL. Accessed September 29, 2025. https://www.scfl.org/about-us.
4. “South Central Federation of Labor.” scfl. Accessed September 29, 2025. https://www.scfl.org/.
5. “2009 Wisconsin Act 28.” State of Wisconsin, June 29, 2009. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2009/related/acts/28.pdf.
6. Finkelmeyer, Todd. “Union Backlash: UW-Madison Academic Staff Bristle at Perceived Strong-Arm Tactics.” The Cap Times, June 6, 2010. https://captimes.com/news/local/education/university/union-backlash-uw-madison-academic-staff-bristle-at-perceived-strong-arm-tactics/article_a517072d-3e72-517b-856f-9a3d7ba9a2c8.html.
7. “30 Wisconsin Justice Department Employees Disciplined from 2002-06, Review Finds.” St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 14, 2015. https://www.twincities.com/2007/12/26/30-wisconsin-justice-department-employees-disciplined-from-2002-06-review-finds/.