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Current Campaigns

Bargaining

TAA bargaining unit members are currently working under an extension of the 2005-2007 contract, which expired on June 30th, 2007. This means that TAs and PAs still are working under contract.

The TAA submitted its initial proposal for bargaining with the state in June 2007 based upon member bargaining priorities. The biennial state budget ran through June 30th, 2007 as did the TAA '05-'07 contract. After more than 100 days of operating without a state budget the State Senate and Assembly agreed upon a budget and it was signed into effect by Governor Doyle on October 26, 2007. The delay in passing a budget affected the bargaining timeline for the TAA and many other public employee unions.

Because of the budget delay, the TAA did not reach a tentative agreement with the State of Wisconsin until December 1, 2008. On December 10, 2008, TAA Membership voted at a General Membership Meeting to ratify the new contract. The contract needs to be voted on by the Wisconsin State Legislature in order to take effect. TAA Leadership expects this to occur in March or April, 2009.

There is no rest for our weary Bargaining Team, however. During the Spring Semester of 2009, the Bargaining Team is putting together our first proposal to the State of Wisconsin for the 2009-2011 contract. During February and March, we are looking for ideas for future contract language, and in April we will be sending out a survey to members to assess bargaining priorities.

You too can help UW's TA and PA community, if you have a few hours a month to do some preliminary research on wage, benefit, and language issues at UW's peer institutions. Your contribution will directly affect the quality of workplace for approximately 2800 TAs and PAs. Email the TAA office and say you're interested in being a researcher today!

The TAA bargains directly with the state of Wisconsin, not UW-Madison, to determine the terms of employment. This situation has its disadvantages and advantages. On the plus side, the TAA and our parent federation, AFT-Wisconsin are able to exert political influence and lobbying pressure on state elected officials who have the ultimate control over the contract. One of the disadvantages of the bargaining with the state is that elected officials do not always understand the important roles that TAs and PAs hold at the university, or for that matter, don't fully appreciate the importance of UW-Madison to the state.

Once bargaining begins, members can have a direct impact upon negotiations by attending bargaining sessions or by taking part in actions such as grade-ins that raise awareness amongst the public and state officials of the situation. Furthermore, the ultimate decision of whether or not to accept the contract bargained by the TAA bargaining team and the state lies with the membership of the union.

Politics

The TAA Political Education Committee (PEC) is supported by member donations and works to educate members about and support pro-labor and pro-education candidates and issues. TAA members have also approved a general ideological framework in the form of the TAA Political Platform.

During the fall, the TAA Political Education Committee was a thing of beauty, turning out activists four to five days a week to phone bank, to do Labor Walks, to canvass, and to Get Out the Vote in support of pro-labor, pro-education candidates. PEC Chair, Peter Rickman, won the American Federation of Teachers' Committee on Political Education's (AFT COPE's) 2008 Partners in Political Education Award for his energetic and effective political organizing.

The spring 2009 elections are fast approaching. Among other races is a contest for the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction. This elected official will have direct impact for the future of higher education in these economically challenging times. Because voter turnout is substantially lower during spring elections, the TAA is in a prime position to turn every race to a labor and education friendly candidate.To learn more about how you can help, visit the TAA Politics Page.

Organizing

Talking to members, mobilizing opinion, engaging in discourse, and attaining investment in working collectively for the greater good is the bread and butter of our union. Graduate Employee Locals have to do even more organizing than other locals because of the high turnover of our members, our activists, and our leadership.

In September of 2008, the TAA attempted to organize with a plan known as "The Blitz." After finding 60 dedicated organizers, we divided the campus into 10 geographical regions, and sent organizers in pairs to speak with TAs and PAs about our political program, about bargaining, and about our Domestic Partner Benefits campaign. During the first three weeks, we logged more than 200 conversations from all corners of campus.

Because of the size of campus, we changed our organizing strategy for the latter half of the Fall 08 semester to a "Swarm and Nest" tactic, in which we would target two or three buildings on one day, and send dozens of organizers up in pairs to have conversations with graduate employees. In the Chemistry Building in early November, ten organizers spoke with 40 TAs and PAs, and signed up 10 new members to the TAA. In early December, in Educational Sciences, a crew of 20 organizers knocked on approximately 175 office doors, spoke with about 60 graduate employees, and signed up 13 new members.

We will continue Swarming and Nesting in the Spring Semester no fewer than 10 times. We are actively looking to build a strong organizing culture here at UW. We believe organizing is the key to grass roots change, and that if Labor and Higher Education are to stand up and take the lead on the crucial issues of the 21st century, we need graduate employees to stand up now and begin learning how to lead a Labor and Education Renaissance in this country.

If you are willing to take a stand, to fight your initial and fleeting discomfort and engage in a bit of discourse with a fellow TAA member, now is the time. Read the membership emails to know when we're Swarm and Nesting, or email the TAA office to join the next generation of labor leaders.

Union Solidarity

Madison and Wisconsin are steeped in union history and the labor community in the greater Madison area continues to be vibrant. The TAA is partnered with various labor organizations, from AFL-CIO to AFT to the Wisconsin AFT chapter, to the South Central Federation of Labor (the local AFL-CIO federation). With these groups, the TAA and its members work to advance pro-labor candidates and issues and support union and union organizing efforts in the area.

Currently, the TAA does not have an active group of individuals who are willing to work with other labor unions and organizations. This is very much in our strategic disadvantage. If you would like to help the TAA build relationships with other unions and organizations, please contact the office.

University Policy

The University of Wisconsin - Madison works not only because the TAA does, but because the many different individuals and groups that make up the UW community work together and for the betterment of the university. There are many university policies that affect TAA members and the UW community and TAA activists are often members of various university committees examining new issues and policies. If you would like to become active on university policy issues, contact the office.

One university policy in particular has a direct and deleterious impact on the TAA bargaining unit, the tuition remission surcharge. The TAA won full tuition remission for all bargaining members in 1997. TA's and PA's also took a pay cut to receive tuition remission, which has worked out well in the long run as in-state tuition has more than doubled during that time, and of course, our stipends haven't gone up quite that much. The UW administration's attempts to solve its financial problems (related to graduate employee tuition remission) include making it very expensive for departments to hire PAs and RAs: departments are now paying $8000 per year for each PA or RA they hire, with guaranteed increases in the coming years as tuition rises. This move has resulted in the loss of 16% of PA jobs already (and an undetermined amount of RA-ships too), and is expected to result in even more job losses this year. It's bad not only for grad employees, but for the UW's research, and especially for departments that rely on PA-ships for graduate student support. So TAA members, along with faculty and other interested organizations, have joined together to fight this plan as part of the Coalition for Affordable Public Education (CAPE). CAPE is a collaboration between undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and other UW community members who are working to address the issues arising from the new fee. To learn more and to get involved, visit the CAPE website.

Overwork Issues

Overwork Issues? Learn more about your rights and how to protect them!

Are you feeling overworked? Read on below for an excerpt from the TAA Contract on overwork issues. Before reading, note that it is understood that hours worked may vary above and below the hours appointed via appointment. The total appointed hours are for the semester, and if you feel that your work hours will exceed your appointment level over the course of the semester, this next bit is for you.

TAA Contract Article V Section 8.E

"...An employee who finds that the assigned duties appear to require more time than is allocated should immediately notify, and consult with, the supervisor or Department Chair (or designee), who shall reconsider the factors used to determine the amount of time expected. The supervisor and the department may direct either an adjustment in the duties or, pending approval of funding, an adjustment in the appointment level.

"An employee may submit to the supervisor or Department Chair (or designee) a written request that the duties required be revised. A response shall be made within one (1) week of the written request unless the employee and the department mutually agree to a longer period. If the employee is dissatisfied with the response or no response is forthcoming, the employee may file a grievance under Article IV of this Agreement. No such grievance will be considered unless there has been a prior written request to make an adjustment."

If you have further questions about overwork, contact the office.