Skip to Menu

Union Activism In Your Building

August 30, 2009

This year, we are working on build the organizing power of our union: building capacity for action, educating members, training new leaders. Our organizing power comes from our members being involved in the union. Anyone can do it and everyone should.

If you can help with an easy project in your office building this week, let Co-President Peter Rickman know via email.

In building a union like ours, there are always different kinds of ways for people to be involved, including some things that are really easy while still being very important. Right now, we are working on getting out a letter to all returning grad student workers to ask them to join (or re-join) the union as members by filling out a new membership card and to let us know how they want to get involved in the union.

If you can help distribute these letters in your office building, please let Co-President Peter Rickman know via email.

We're working to deliver the letters (and membership cards) in departmental mailboxes through simply dropping the literature in the boxes. We have a number of buildings already done. But we could use some help in a bunch more buildings. By taking a few minutes to deliver these letters and cards to all the grad student workers in your office building in something like a literature drop, you can help build our organizing power and help build a stronger union.

So if you can do that and you want to help our union work for grad student workers, please contact Co-President Peter Rickman know via email and he'll work with you to plug on in with this project.

It's an easy way to get involved in some basic organizing work of the union but something that is also important.

posted by Webmaster

One Superquick Thing to Build the Union

One superquick thing that you can do to help build the union is to join our TAA Facebook group.

Just click here to join and instantly your Facebook profile page will feel the overwhelming rush of solidarity and union power.

posted by Webmaster

Union Workshops: This Week & Next

Over the course of this coming week and the following week, we will be holding workshops for TAA members to learn more about our union. The content will include things like what unions are and what they do, a bit on the background of the TAA, and how the TAA operates. These workshops will be a great opportunity to gain greater understanding of your union and its place in the world - as well as your place in the union.

The workshops, at 6 PM on five upcoming weeknights, held at the TAA office, will be set up like a seminar. One of the elected leaders of the union or one of our staff will do quick presentations on a few key topics and then attendees will have the chance to ask questions and engage in discussion - these will be somewhat participatory learning opportunities (that said, they are as participatory as you want to be in attendance).

Here are those dates (remember: 6 PM at the TAA office):

Monday, August 31st
Tuesday, September 1st
Thursday, September 3rd
Wednesday, September 9th
Thursday, September 10th

We'll also have some food and beverage for folks to kick back with while the workshops go on. Not to mention dozens of fellow grad student workers will be attending these over the coming weeks - so it'll be a chance to meet some new people from across the university campus.

Of course, because our union works through the involvement of us as graduate student workers who are the rank-and-file members of the union, we will go over how folks can and should get involved in the work of the union. And because such a critical part of meaningful involvement in a union hinges upon understanding what a union is and does, these workshops will be great points of departure for everyone to gain context.

We hope to see you at the upcoming union workshops. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact TAA Co-Presidents Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom.

posted by Webmaster

Welcome Back Happy Hour This Friday

You probably already know this. You've probably had it on your calendar for weeks. You've probably told all your friends. But just in case, let us remind you once again:

The annual union party, the TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour, is going on this Friday.

That's right, this Friday, from 4 PM to 7 PM (or so) at Tripp Commons in Memorial Union. Get it on your Facebook events.

We're going to have free food and beverage - including some delicious Wisconsin beer - great music from DJ Extra Credit (a.k.a. Brother From Another Planet on WSUM), lots of fellow grad student workers, and a very brief bit of union business about our wages.

So this is your reminder. You probably knew all this already.

posted by Webmaster

Your Tuition Is Still Being Waived

August 25, 2009

This isn't a "your union kicks ass for winning tuition remission as a benefit of the collective bargaining agreement" or a "let's go win seg fee remission" kind of post. This is a "you might be getting some news that could freak you out in the way of a tuition bill."

Don't worry, your tuition as a grad student is still being waived as part of the contract that covers you as a grad assistant.

Though, yes, your union does kick ass for winning tuition remission through the collective bargaining agreement (something we first won a while back and with which set the standard for all grad employment).

However, more pertinently, the Bursar's office has made a mistake and accidentally included a billing due date of seg fees (not remitted, unlike tuition) in September. Instead, seg fees need to be paid by October 2nd - this is significant because October 2nd is AFTER your first paycheck. They are working on getting that corrected and letting everyone know that the mistake is on their end - and that grad student workers have nothing to fear. But we wanted to let you know about this too, and let you know that your union has been working on resolving this.

You might have gotten an email on this, but we also wanted to let you know what's up because a) it's important and b) it directly impacts you as a grad student worker.

If you have any questions, you can send them to tuition@bussvc.wisc.edu and they will help you out.

Now all that said: Don't you think that this would be a lot easier for the Bursar's office, and more importantly, better for all grad student workers, if we had full tuition remission and seg fee remission both?

Well, if we want it, we have to win it - and to win it, we need to organize.

posted by Webmaster

Official General Membership Meeting Announcement

August 24, 2009

At this year's annual TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour, we will be holding a mini-General Membership Meeting. Within the Welcome Back Happy Hour, we will take a few minutes to handle one piece of union business.

As many of you know, all state employees (like us) have had to deal with "give-backs" of wage increases. For non-represented (read: those without a union) state employees, there is no option - they've had their 2% pay increases yanked unilaterally Because we have a union and a contract, our negotiated wage increase cannot occur automatically. We would need to open up our contract and settle a new one that gives up these wage increases. But that requires that our general membership vote to do so and authorize a new contract settlement without the scheduled 2% pay increases (scheduled because our new contract has yet to take effect).

The mini-General Membership Meeting will consider these wage "give-backs" as our sole agenda item. The TAA Executive Board will be recommending a 'no' vote on this. A 'no' vote would keep the contract the way it is and keep our duly-negotiated wage increase. After all, a deal's a deal, and we deserve the pay increase for a number of reasons.

If you have questions before the mini-General Membership Meeting at the Welcome Back Happy Hour, please be in touch with our Co-Presidents Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom as well as our Vice President of Bargaining Kevin Gibbons.

This mini-General Membership Meeting will be brief. Very brief. One piece of business to handle. Only a small break from the rest of the festivities of the union party.

Here are the details for the TAA Annual Welcome Back Happy Hour:
Friday, September 4th - 4 PM to 7 PM
Tripp Commons, Memorial Union
mini-General Membership Meeting likely around 5 or 5:30 PM

posted by Webmaster

Union Workshops Coming Up

August 23, 2009

Make sure to get it on your calendar and save the date - we have union workshops coming up that you don't want to miss:

Monday, August 31
Tuesday, September 1
Thursday, September 3
Wednesday, September 9
Thursday, September 10

All of the union workshops will be at 6 PM at the TAA Office.

The union workshops will be an opportunity to learn more about your union, who we are and what we do. We will discuss what a union is and does and what that means for the TAA. We will cover how we build power for graduate student workers by organizing, including what organizing is and how we do it.

If you're brand new to the TAA or if you've been around for a while, you can learn a lot at and get a lot from these workshops. They will be participatory forums with presenters from among our elected leadership and staff, and plenty of fellow grad student workers to meet and with whom to talk about union-related stuff.

As important as anything, we'll have some free food and beverage for everyone - one of the things you'll learn about unions is that we always make sure to feed people and keep everyone strong for the work we do. So make sure to RSVP via email to us so that we can plan on the right number of attendees at each workshop. Just let us know which workshop you plan on attending.

We're really excited to build a knowledgeable and activist membership base for this coming year - and beyond. These union workshops will be a key first step in that. So we hope to see you out at them with us!

posted by Webmaster

Orientation Week Under Way!

This week officially kicks off the year for the TAA. Over the course of this week, we will get out and organize at nearly 60 departmental orientations for new graduate assistants, speaking with nearly 1,000 grad student workers.

Orientation week is when we do our most intense organizing drive of the year, signing of hundreds of new members, re-connecting with hundreds of continuing members, and generally building the basic infrastructure of membership that we need for a successful year.

In the 2009-2010 academic year, we have an ambitious agenda. We have a new contract up for negotiation that will require that we organize hard to win gains for all graduate assistants. We are going to engage in an unprecedented level of organizing and leadership development to build a stronger union. We are going to increase our membership numbers to be among the highest in the realm of graduate labor unions. We are going to build a union that works for all grad student workers.

There is no better way to get started with being involved in your union than to volunteer to help out during Orientation week. If you can help with departmental orientations, follow-up contacting of new members, dropping literature, or data management, let our Orientation Committee co-chairs Tim Frandy and Peter Rickman know when you are available. We are looking for folks to get involved literally any time during the week from 9 AM to 9 PM. This is an intense organizing drive, but anyone can get involved at a level comfortable to them - and we'll train you to take on something meaningful right away. So be in touch if you want to get involved in your union at a critical juncture for an exciting and important year for all of us.

posted by Webmaster

One Click And a Few Keystrokes to Build a Better Union

August 17, 2009

Take just a moment to fill out a quick online form to let us know where you are at with getting involved in our union.

Click here to complete this easy form about you and getting involved in the union.

posted by Webmaster

TAA Events Coming Up

The next few weeks are full of tons of hot TAA action and we want you to be a part of it. Here is what's on tap in the near future - and take a look below the list for a brief description of the events:

Orientation Organizing Campaign info session
Thursday, August 20th (6 PM @ the TAA office)
Please be in touch with Orientation Committee co-chair Peter Rickman if you are planning to attend so that he can plan on the right number of participants.

Orientation Organizing Campaign
Monday, August 24th - Friday, August 28th (all day, various locations)
Please be in touch with Orientation Committee co-chair Peter Rickman if you can be involved with the TAA campaign during this week.

Union Workshops
(6 PM @ the TAA office)
Monday, August 31st
Tuesday, September 1st
Thursday, September 3rd
Please be in touch with us with any questions about the Union Workshops

TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour
Friday, September 4th (4 PM @ Tripp Commons, Memorial Union)
Please be in touch with us with any questions about the TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour.

Union Workshops
(6 PM @ the TAA office)
Wednesday, September 9th
Thursday, September 10th
Please be in touch with us with any questions about the Union Workshops

Orientation Organizing Campaign info session:
This information session will be the entree into our Orientation Organizing Campaign. It will introduce the campaign to new activists and build the kind of information, context, and education activists should have to play a role on the campaign. Activists will walk out of the information session with a full sense of the campaign and with a set of concrete follow-up items.

Union Workshops:
These workshops, scheduled on almost all weeknights of the first two weeks of the semester, will provide a seminar or teach-in atmosphere to learn much more about our union and all members' roles in it - and provide avenues for members to get involved in the union. They will include brief presentations by TAA member-activists followed by discussion of materials presented. These will be a great opportunity to learn more about the TAA as our union, the role of the union, how members make our union work, and how members can and should be involved in the union. The workshops will also be a great opportunity to meet fellow graduate student workers and TAA members from throughout the university. People will walk out of the workshops with a better understanding of the union, a concrete way to be involved in the union, and next steps for that involvement.

TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour:
The annual Welcome Back Happy Hour is quite simply the best semester-beginning party around. Fellow graduate student workers will gather for a great time with free food and beverage (including some good Wisconsin beer), excellent company, fine music, and a little union business (one item: Do we want to keep our raises?). This social event will be an opportunity to connect with a lot of cool fellow graduate assistants and you don't want to miss it.

posted by Webmaster

Contract Information & Update

After a conversation with the Office of State Employment Relations (OSER), we feel like the 2007-2009 contract is progressing along. In this conversation, we heard that OSER is preparing our contract for consideration in the September session of the state legislature.

Many of you probably know that as state employees, our contracts must be ratified by the state legislature. OSER prepares a contract for legislative consideration; then the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JoCER, or "joker") reviews and votes to accept or reject the contract; after JoCER accepts the contract, it brings to the floor of both the state Assembly and state Senate legislation to adopt the contract; finally, after both houses of the legislature adopt the contract legislation, the governor signs it. Ultimately, the process from JoCER to gubernatorial signature should last a couple of weeks.

What this means is that we can look forward to our 2007-2009 contract going into effect sometime early in the fall semester. Our wages will increase and new contractual provisions about matters like catastrophic leave and union security will go into effect. If you have any questions about the new contract, feel free to contract our Contract Enforcement staffer, Claiborne Hill.

But to ensure that our contract continues along its now political path, we need to mobilize our membership to push the legislature and the governor to do the right thing and honor the contract be voted to accept after negotiations all the way back in December of 2008. If you can volunteer to be part of the political mobilization around this, please take a moment and fill out this brief online form - our political education team will be in touch with you about how you can mobilize.

This week, some leaders of our union, along with the Government Relations director of our statewide affiliate, AFT-Wisconsin, will be heading up to the Capitol to begin the grassroots lobbying on passage of the contract.

Finally, everyone should note that even with our 2007-2009 contract being ratified and going into effect, our 2009-2011 contract must now be negotiated. OSER has told us that they will be ready sometime in the fall to begin negotiations. Beginning last year, our Bargaining Team, led by Vice President of Bargaining Kevin Gibbons and Bargaining staffer Rob Henn, started the process of getting input and feedback on contract proposal items. The Bargaining Team continues to develop an initial proposal to present to OSER when it is ready to start negotiations. To win the gains we want, we will need to put together a contract campaign - that means we need to mobilize as a membership to make this happen. To get involved with this, contact Kevin to join the Bargaining Team or to indicate your desire to be a part of a contract campaign.

With any further questions about the contract, past, present, or future, please be in touch with Kevin, Rob, Claiborne, or our Co-Presidents Katie Lindstrom and Peter Rickman.

posted by Webmaster

Health Care & Benefits Information

Health insurance coverage is one of the most important victories that our union has won for us as graduate student workers. But it doesn't mean a thing to our health insurance coverage if we don't enroll.

To be covered by health insurance on September 1, make sure that you are enrolled. The University has a seminar that you can attend to have any questions answered. Check it out if you have questions or need to deal with your health insurance coverage.

posted by Webmaster

Reading for Fun About Your Vocation

Hopefully you got to spend some of your summer break from academic work with a few good books. Before the academic year begins in earnest and you have lots of reading to do for your work, take a minute to check out a cool blog for insight and commentary from one of the most trenchant observers and critics of the academy.

Marc Bosquet, an academic in California who has been a part of the academic labor movement for quite some time (as a grad and as faculty), and who has a book to his name on the topic of the changed and changing academy, keeps a great blog, "How the University Works." It's a great read on the world of which we are a part now as graduate student workers and of which many (if not most) of us will be a part in our future careers.

So for a little reading for pleasure before the reading for work kicks in, check out Marc's blog here.

posted by Webmaster

TAA Events for the Next Two Weeks

August 11, 2009

As we head into the homestretch of summer break before the academic year begins again, the TAA is ramping up its programming. Over the next two weeks, we have a number of program events and actions, mostly related to our Orientation Organizing Campaign. We hope all rank-and-file members of our union will consider getting involved in the union - and these are great places to start. Here's what is coming up in the next two weeks (all events at the TAA office, unless noted otherwise):

Tuesday, August 11th - 6 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign information session
Wednesday, August 12th - 5 PM to 8 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign activist recruitment
Thursday, August 13th - 5 PM to 8 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign activist recruitment
Sunday, August 16th - 6 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign information session
Monday, August 17th - 7 PM (at the Madison Labor Temple)
South Central Federation of Labor delegates meeting
Tuesday, August 18th - 5 PM to 8 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign activist recruitment
Wednesday, August 19th - 5 PM to 8 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign activist recruitment
Thursday, August 20th - 6 PM
Orientation Organizing Campaign information session

Here's a brief description of each of the kinds of events/actions:

Orientation Organizing Campaign information session
These teach-ins will help to build our Orientation Organizing Campaign. Attendees of the information sessions will learn about our campaign and why it's important, as well as the campaign plan. Folks will get a sense of what the campaign is all about, how it will work, and what rank-and-file members can do to make this campaign a big, union-building success. You'll get plugged into your union, and get a little free food and beverage on the side. If you're planning on attending one of these, make sure to RSVP to Orientation Committee co-chair Peter Rickman, so that we can plan on the right number of attendees, for the sake of materials and food/beverage.

Orientation Organizing Campaign activist recruitment
These actions will recruit fellow rank-and-file members of our union to get active on our Orientation Organizing Campaign. Attendees will help recruit fellow grad student workers of our union to be involved with the campaign. Folks will get a quick run-down of the campaign, if they don't know about it all yet, and then get trained on effective activist recruitment; then, we'll all make phone calls to fellow TAA members to recruit them to join the campaign. And of course, there will be food and beverage for all. Actions run from 5 PM to 8 PM, but we're looking for folks to come for about two hours at a time. Make sure to RSVP to Orientation Committee co-chair Peter Rickman so that we can plan for the right number of attendees.

South Central Federation of Labor delegates meeting
Our union is part of a local labor council, made up of dozens and dozens of other unions in our area. The labor council, the South Central Federation of Labor (SCFL, or "scuffle"), holds a monthly meeting of delegates to cover council business, hear from speakers, and strategize on continuing to build a vibrant labor movement in the Madison area. Attendees will get a taste of the grassroots labor activism that makes Madison a Union Town. If you're planning on attending, let us know - and if you want to carpool, we can make that work too.

posted by Webmaster

Have You Oriented A Grad Assistant Today?

We all remember the first days on campus as a new grad student. Getting acclimated to Madison, figuring out the whole grad assistant role, meeting new people, and becoming part of an intellectual community: those days were heady times that shape our experiences in grad school today. In just a couple of weeks, thousands of new grad student workers will be hitting the campus for the first time.

The TAA is running a campaign to connect with these new people from the get-go to get them engaged and involved in our union. But we can't do it alone - we need you to be a part of this. There is no better welcome to campus for new graduate assistants than to hear from and meet fellow grad student workers and to be brought into an organization that will affect their lives over the next four years (Four? More like eight).

Can you be a part of our campaign?

Orientation is the best time for our union to engage literally thousands of new grad student workers on our campus and to bring them into our union. Many will arrive not knowing that they will be part of a large organization that fights for them every day - or even what a union is and does. But through our Orientation Organizing Campaign, the TAA will connect with these new folks and bring them into the union, building within them union identity, understanding of who we are and what we do, and how they fit in. More instrumentally, our campaign will also build up our membership ranks (critical in a contract bargaining year) and recruit new activists and leaders of our union.

Our Orientation Committee has put together a dynamite campaign plan for this. For the campaign to work and for our union to be successful in general, we'll need lots of grad student worker activists from our ranks to implement it.

That's where you come in. Joining the campaign means you will be part of something big and part of your union's work on behalf of all graduate assistants. Joining the campaign could mean delivering a presentation to your department's new grad assistant orientation; or it can mean delivering that rap to departments you never knew existed. Joining the campaign could mean helping the union re-contact all the new grad assistants we meet at departmental orientations, to plug them into the union and its work. Joining the campaign could mean canvassing the current grad assistants in your department - or others - to re-engage them on the work of the TAA for this year.

There are a lot of ways for you to be involved on the Orientation Organizing Campaign. All you need to do is say "yes" to being a part of it. Take a moment and fill out this quick online form, and we'll get you plugged in to the campaign. We'll get you all the background information, train you up, and work with you to be an effective, important player on this campaign. Also, check out the TAA calendar for an upcoming info session on the campaign.

Building our union starts with orientation, and it starts with our Orientation Organizing Campaign. Bringing into the union new grad assistants is a critical part of union-building for the TAA. And we need you to be a part of it.

posted by Webmaster

Getting Involved In Your Union

We have in our local a dynamic of the union being "of, by, and for" graduate assistants. No one tells us what to do - we decide it ourselves. From collective bargaining of a contract to political action to general business of our organization, this union is run for graduate assistants. But for that "of, by, and for" dynamic to be real - and for our direction-setting and decision-making to play out "for" graduate student workers - we as members must also be the "of" and "by" parts.

That means being involved in your union. Whether it's getting involved in organizing fellow grad student workers, like through our Orientation Organizing Campaign, or taking on a role as a department leader, or really anything else, being engaged in the union and being involved in it is critical. The university works because we do; our union works too because we do.

So your union needs you. Your union needs you to be involved. Never been involved with your union or in any kind of organization? No problem. Our current cadre of activists and leaders as well as our very talented (and experienced) staff will show you the ropes, educate and teach you, and mentor you so that your can be involved in a meaningful way that works for you. Are you a hardcore activist that needs an organizational home to advance the work you do? Well, union activism is for you too. You can plug in and take on a leadership role with the infrastructure we have built and are building today.

The most important thing is for you to get involved. It's easy to do it. Just take a moment to fill out this convenient online form, and one of our current activists or staff-persons will be in touch with you. From there, we'll work with you to get you plugged in to the union. So if you have a couple of hours a week or are looking for a significant time diversion from your dissertation - or anything in between - there's a way for you to be involved. And you definitely should be.

Our union is of, by, and for grad student workers. Let's all play our part in making our union work.

posted by Webmaster

Annual Welcome Back Happy Hour

There is simply no better way to come back to campus for an academic year than with a party on the Terrace.

We're going to kick off the year in style with a big party full of grad assistants, with plenty of free food and beer, rockin' music, and a small bit of union business. You can start your academic year and your weekend off with a great time among lots of fellow grad student workers. The annual Welcome Back Happy Hour (more like a few hours) is always a good party; and unlike most parties, there's more than a little union solidarity wafting through the air.

Summary: Party. Free food and beer. Fellow grad student workers. Little bit of union business (Do we want to keep our raises?)

Friday, September 4th @ 4 PM, Tripp Commons of the Memorial Union.

So mark you calendar now and plan to be at the TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour.

posted by Webmaster

LaborFest 2009

Every September, the local labor movement celebrates the holiday for working people, Labor Day, with a big party. Consider yourselves invited to attend as working people and members of the baddest graduate employee union in all the land.

The South Central Federation of Labor (SCFL, or "scuffle"), the local labor council for unions in this part of the state, is putting on LaborFest '09 on Labor Day, September 7th, from noon to 5:30 PM. It will be at the Labor Temple grounds, 1602 Park Street.

In addition to some delicious food and beverage, LaborFest '09 will have music from Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans and the The Westside Andy/Mel Ford Band. The bands come highly recommended. There will also be, among other things, a clown (not of the scary variety), activities for kids, and a host of tables from cool labor- and progressive-oriented community organizations. A few thousand local union members and working people usually attend throughout the day - and you might catch a glimpse of some local politicians of note.

Part of having a real labor movement is about building community among workers and union members. So while LaborFest is a great party, it's also a community-building event where you can taste the solidarity in the air - and on the delicious food made by union activists.

Any questions, contact TAA Co-President and SCFL delegate Peter Rickman.

posted by Webmaster

Orientation Organizing Campaign: Your Department & Elsewhere

August 3, 2009

As noted previously (once or twice, or three times), Orientation is a critical time for our union to engage new graduate assistants, build membership, and recruit new activists and leaders.

We need you to get involved to make our Orientation Organizing Campaign successful. A good campaign here means a stronger union, and a stronger union means better results for all of us rank-and-file members of the union.

Can you get involved on the campaign?

There are a few ways to get involved, and you can do it either by contacting our Orientation Committee Co-Chairs Tim Frandy and Peter Rickman, or by attending an Orientation Organizing Campaign information session to learn more and to plug in.

We need rank-and-file members like you to:

- Speak at departmental orientations about the union - maybe even your department
- Contact new union members with follow-up information and to recruit them into involvement in the union
- Track and input data and new union member information

For all of these roles on the campaign, we have experienced activists and staff who will train you, so that you are comfortable with the tasks for the role and able to be successful carrying them out.

We need rank-and-file members like you to be active in these roles on the Orientation campaign the week of August 24th through 28th, at various times throughout the day.

So let us know how you want to be involved or come to one of our Orientation Organizing Campaign information sessions. These events will be at 6 PM at the TAA office on August 5th, 11th, 16th, and 20th. We'll have food and beverage at these info sessions, so please RSVP ahead of time using this form or by emailing Orientation Committee co-chair Peter Rickman. Information sessions will go over the campaign, what the plan is for the campaign, what particular roles are to be filled - and how - and how you can play a role on a successful Orientation Organizing Campaign.

This is a great opportunity for you to be involved in your union, from speaking at your department's Orientation (and/or elsewhere) to connecting with new union members interested in who we are and what we do to however you can be involved. We'll look forward to having you be a part of the campaign.

posted by Webmaster

Welcome Back Happy Hour

To start the semester and the academic year off right, the TAA will be putting on its annual "Welcome Back Happy Hour" event on Friday, September 4th. So save the date now and plan to be there with new and old union members and fellow graduate assistants.

Where else but the annual TAA Welcome Back Happy Hour can you party with all kinds of fellow graduate assistants, some barrels of fine Wisconsin-brewed beer, and a whole mess of food? On September 4th, starting at 4 PM, probably nowhere but the TAA's 2009-2010 Welcome Back Happy Hour.

Join with new and returning graduate assistants to kick the semester and the academic year off in style, with a party of grad assistants and our union.

In addition to free, and free-flowing food and beverage, there will be a (good) DJ spinning some music (we have assurances that everyone will be able to dance to the music, no matter their personal tastes).

And, we'll have a mini-General Membership Meeting to handle one piece of union business around our contract (Do you want to keep a pay raise?) and some (brief) union-related speakers to get us ready for the year.

The attire, of course, is informal - just make sure you've got a hot outfit on to augment with your brand new 2009-2010 TAA t-shirt that will be available at the door.

You don't need a ticket for this bonanza, just a union membership in the TAA. See you then.

Make sure to check out the link to the Facebook event listing for the Welcome Back Happy Hour and RSVP here. And then go ahead and join the TAA Facebook group here too.

posted by Webmaster

TAA In the (Union Labor) News

As many of you know, recent action by Wisconsin's state legislature extended to research assistants collective bargaining rights. As you all definitely know, teaching and project assistants have enjoyed this basic labor right for decades. Further, faculty and academic staff in the UW System now will also have the right to organize a union and bargain collectively.

The current edition of Union Labor News, the newspaper of our local labor council, the South Central Federation of Labor, has a story on these recent developments. The piece includes quotations from one of our Co-Presidents.

Take a look at the story on collective bargaining rights for all academic workers and let us know any thoughts or questions that you have.

The prospect of a "wall-to-wall" union of all graduate assistants is exciting for all of us indeed. A union of all graduate assistants means higher standards in the way we are treated, pay and benefits, and as important as anything, the quality of the University. Just as unionism is a statement that we are stronger together and that we achieve more for everyone collectively, unionism for all graduate assistants means better academic and workplace lives for each and every one of us, teaching, project, and research assistants alike.

We will have more on this topic as it develops.

posted by Webmaster

Reminder: Update Your Union Membership Info

Once again, we are asking all rank-and-file members of the union to update their membership information. Knowing the crucial details about our membership makes it possible for our union to be as best-organized as possible. A better organized union means a stronger union, and a stronger unions means better results for rank-and-file members.

So please do take a moment to update your union membership information here.

posted by Webmaster

 

Previous Posts

Archives