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General Membership Meeting This Thursday!

November 30, 2009

Our final General Membership Meeting of the semester is coming up this Thursday, December 3rd. It will be at 5:30 PM at the Pres House off of Library Mall.

If you have any questions, just shoot us an email.

Here's what the tentative agenda looks like right now:

1. Bargaining Strategy Session
2. Political Education Committee Projects & Lay of the Land
3. AFT-Wisconsin Update
4. UIUC GEO Strike Storytime
5. Constitution Revisions
6. Treasurer's Report for Fall Semester
7. Officer Stipends

Please keep in mind that the agenda could get revised, with new topics being added, or items being re-shuffled. But this is what the meeting will look like at its core.

Here's a brief description of what you can expect from each item:

1. Bargaining Strategy Session
With our 2007-2009 contract now in place, our Bargaining Team has worked hard to prepare for the 2009-2011 negotiations. After getting lots of membership input, conducting a bargaining survey of members, and preparing planks and the platform, we are getting down to business. By Thursday's GMM, we will have had two "sidebar" meetings with the UW Administration, including the Chancellor.

We have some big decisions to make as a union right now about how we approach this bargaining round. The state has offered zero percent wage increases. We have a lot of working conditions and "non-economic" issues on the table. There is an opportunity to perhaps see movement on the segregated fee issue.

As a union, we make decisions democratically on how to move forward with our contract negotiations. So this will be a very important discussion of key priorities, what we are willing to do, how we can make things happen, and the general direction of bargaining in which our membership would like to move.

VP of Bargaining Kevin Gibbons and TAA bargaining staffer Rob Henn will lead this discussion of members.

2. Political Education Committee Projects & Lay of the Land
The Political Education Committee has been working to put together a full slate of projects for the spring semester and beyond. Not the least of which is our creation and development of a new political platform. Political Education Committee chair Peter Rickman and PEC activist Jason Tatum will walk members through the process for how we will create a democratic political platform and what we are going to do with it.

3. AFT-Wisconsin Update
At our last GMM, we voted on matters going to the AFT-Wisconsin convention. We will briefly update members on what occurred at the convention with the federation of unions of which we are a part. What happens in the federation at-large impacts us on a number of levels.

One of those issues will be the organizing drive on which AFT-Wisconsin is working to unionize faculty and academic staff at UW System schools. TAA Co-President and AFT-Wisconsin delegate Peter Rickman will provide a brief update and answer any questions members have.

4. UIUC GEO Strike Storytime
A week or so ago, our brothers and sisters of the GEO at the University of Illinois went out on strike over tuition remission. We sent a staffer and multiple activists down to Urbana-Champaign to support the strike. They will report back on the full story, what happened, and their experiences.

5. Constitution Revisions
We need to perform a small revision to our governing Constitution with regard to our non-discrimination provision. At our last GMM, membership voted to create an ad hoc committee to draft up language to address these issues; at this meeting, they will present their work and membership will debate and vote on making needed changes.

6. Treasurer's Report for Fall Semester
We are going to have our Treasurer do a mid-year, fall semester report on the finances of the TAA. As many of you know, we voted in the spring of 2009 on a budget that allocated funds for increased organizing and leadership development time from our staffers. Our Treasurer, Michael Childers, will report on where our finances are at (hint: they're in good shape).

7. Officer Stipends
While our Co-Presidents and Treasurer are not paid by the union, we traditionally provide a stipend to them for each semester of work. At the final GMM of each semester, we consider stipends for these officers.

posted by Webmaster

TAA 2007-2009 Contract Summary

November 24, 2009

Our Vice President of Bargaining Kevin Gibbons and bargaining staffer Rob Henn put together a fact-sheet for the new 2009-2011 contract. Take a look below and let us know if you have any questions or if you'd like to receive a .pdf copy.

On Wednesday, October 28, Governor Jim Doyle signed our new contract into law. Huzzah! Here's a guide to the new TAA contract; a guide to exactly how you, working through your union, have made the lives of you and your fellow employees at the UW-Madison better. Key parts are in bold.

New Wage Rates

There are now two tiers of TA experience: Standard and Senior. The Standard category was created by raising the (former) Regular pay rate (for first-year TAs) up to the level of the (former) Experienced category. As a result, in this contract first-year TAs have earned a 9.25% wage increase! The employees in other categories did very well, too: there will be an over 5% increase for all other TAs, PAs, and Grader/Readers.

The payroll for November was based on the new rates; thus the paycheck on December 1 will be paid based on the new rates. Furthermore, an additional paycheck will be distributed on December 23: this check will offer backpay for the Fall 2009 semester. Specifically, it will cover the difference between the pay received by each PA and TA from July 1 to October 31 and the pay each would have received had the contract been approved before July 1. This amount will differ from person to person because it is based on the terms of his or her appointment.

Lump Sum Payments for those on the April 2009 Payroll

The Short: Non-hourly TAs and PAs on the April 2009 payroll will receive a check or deposit of $718.62.

The Long: This is not "backpay" (i.e. pay for time worked in the past), but an attempt to recognize that the contract ideally would have been ratified in the Spring semester, and to pay those non-hourly TAs and PAs who were working then accordingly. The lion's share of this payment ($623.62) represents an equal distribution of all the money not spent on TAs and PAs by the State of Wisconsin during the 2007-2009 period, minus the slightly higher health care premium payments owed by TAs and PAs during the same period.

Note: If you were on the April 2009 payroll but are no longer a student/employee at UW-Madison, you must keep your bank account and/or contact information up-to-date to receive the lump sum payment. You can do that here.

The following amounts will be distributed on December 1st, in addition to a paycheck at the new, higher pay rate:

* $95 lump sum to all TAs/PAs on the April 2009 payroll except those paid solely as Grader/Readers.

* $623.62 lump sum to TAs & PAs on the April 2009 payroll except hourly PAs and Graders/Readers.

Note: For those who are entitled to both lump sums, they will be combined into one check or deposit of $718.62.


Other Highlights of the New Contract

* Guaranteed job postings on the web for open positions

* Guaranteed access to a computer with internet and printing capability, plus necessary software

* Greater variety of diversity training options

* Higher standards for good supervisor behavior

* Guarantee of three clean and well-equipped lactation rooms on campus

* Higher mileage reimbursement rate for required car and motorcycle use

* Expanded definition of TAs' "experience" to include K-12 teaching as well as other college teaching

* Guidelines for the TAA's access to department orientations

* Only a reasonable and modest increase in health care costs (from $13.50 to $15.50 for single plans, from $34 to $39 for family plans)

* Increased funding for child care

* Expanded use of sick leave to include half-days

* Nearly comprehensive policy for catastrophic leave of absence (a leave of absence necessitated by illness or need to care for family members). This policy generally allows for:

o Continued health insurance for the balance of the semester (up to 5 months)

o Continued tuition remission despite the need to withdraw early in the semester

o Payment of stipend up to the last date of attendance at work

o Access to the Dean of Students' emergency fund

posted by Webmaster

Student Labor Solidarity Achieving Results, Undergrad Version

November 19, 2009

The contemporary labor movement is diverse. We include factory and construction workers, as well as service sector, low-wage, and immigrant workers. We include professionals like doctors, nurses, lawyers, and dentists (many of whom are in unions affiliated with our own AFT). We include academic workers like professors, researchers, support staff, post-docs, and grad student workers (most of whom are affiliated with AFT as well). Today, we are even more cognizant of the students, especially undergraduates, who are part of a new generation of labor activists.

For about 15 years, student-labor activists have created a movement to stand up for worker justice, leading the way in the fight against sweatshops, supporting blue-collar and technical workers on campuses, and educating a generation who has grown up largely without strong union identification. One of the pioneers of the student-labor movement got its start at UW-Madison, much like our own TAA (the nation's first grad student worker union in 1969). SLAC, or the Student Labor Action Coalition, was the first chapter of USAS, United Students Against Sweatshops, a nationwide student-labor solidarity coalition.

The student-labor and anti-sweatshop movement have achieved major victories over the years, especially in the way of ending relationships between the universities these students attend and apparel licensees that sell campus clothing with university logos. This has greatly affected the sweatshop industry globally.

SLAC has won major victories at UW-Madison that range from ending contracts with egregious sweatshop licensee violators to getting the UW to join a nationwide university consortium against sweatshops to simply having a shared governance committee on-campus that oversees UW licenses for apparel.

This week, SLAC and its broader movement won a huge victory. As the New York Times reported licensee Russell Athletic reversed course and re-opened a factory it had shut down after workers there unionized to stand up for their rights and interests. This happened because universities like the UW either cut their contracts with Russell or threatened to do so if the company did not clean up its act. These universities only acted because of the organizing and action of groups like SLAC and other USAS chapters. Because SLAC got the Russell contract with UW cut previously, this allows Russell to re-apply for a contract with our university. They can only do so by continuing its newfound commitment to recognizing the necessities of worker justice in their factories worldwide.

The success of SLAC and the student-labor movement should hearten other labor activists, union members, and all of academic labor. Our struggles and our collective action can and does have an impact. We are always happy to call SLAC an ally of ours on the UW campus and we congratulate them on their latest major victory.

posted by Webmaster

TAA Constitution Revision: Non-Discrimination Clause

November 18, 2009

One piece of the TAA Constitution is up for review at the next General Membership Meeting on December 3rd. Making decisions on our Constitution, the union's core governing document, is a really important job for all union members. So you should definitely be at general membership meeting to participate in some key union governance and some good old fashioned participatory democracy.

The non-discrimination clause needs to be reviewed as we are now an official registered student organization on campus, in addition to being, well, a chartered union. In becoming a registered student org (which provides us with some rights on campus), the UW required that we add to our Constitution's non-discrimination clause the category of veterans. In true TAA fashion, we took this as an opportunity to expand greatly our non-discrimination clause with more than that, to ensure that this piece of our Constitution accurately reflects our commitment to ecumenical inclusion and democratic solidarity.

Our Constitution is our primary governing document, so we need to take care when amending it. Constitutional changes take place through multiple votes. At the last general membership meeting, we created an ad hoc committee to work up new language for the non-discrimination clause. The ad hoc committee met and drafted language, moving it along to our Executive Board and a review from our Diversity Committee. The Executive Board will now bring the drafted language to the next general membership meeting for review. From there, membership action will determine whether or not we adopt language, and what language would be adopted.

For the Roberts' Rules junkies out there, the proposed Constitutional change comes as a direct motion from the Executive Board.

The current language we have for the non-discrimination clause in our Constitution is:

Our current constitutional language:

III. General Principals and Guarantees
A. Rights to Membership
No person otherwise eligible for membership in this Association shall be denied membership, on the basis of equality, because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual preference, handicap, or political belief.


The drafted language is:

III. General Principals and Guarantees
A. Rights to Membership
In the spirit of equality and solidarity, no person otherwise eligible for membership in this Association shall be denied membership because of age, ancestry, citizenship, color, creed, disability status, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identification, learning barriers, marital status, mental health, national origin, native language, parental status, physical characteristics, political belief, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and background, spiritual beliefs, veteran status or any other factors irrelevant to the guiding principles of unionism.


With any questions, be in touch with Co-President Katie Lindstrom. Again, our union will make a decision on our Constitution's non-discrimination clause at the next General Membership Meeting, on December 3rd at 5:30 PM.

posted by Webmaster

Grad Student Workers Unite!

I. UIUC GEO On Strike

Earlier this week, the grad student workers at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and their union the Graduate Employees' Organization went out on strike. After months of stagnating negotiations where the administration refused to budge on crucial issues, the grad unionists at UIUC took to the streets to move negotiations further along. The GEO at UIUC is a union representing nearly 2,700 grad student workers.

The critical issue in the GEO strike was the protection of of tuition waivers for teaching, research, and graduate assistants. This critical benefit in the GEO contract, akin to the TAA's tuition remission, came under fire as the University of Illinois Board of Trustees looked to cut costs for the university on the backs of grad workers. Because of the union, the core benefit of grad student workers was protected in the successful strike.

When negotiations on the contract began in April, the GEO submitted a full proposal. The administration only responded in August with a proposal that threatened tuition waivers. After months of pursuing matters at the bargaining table, the union began the process of voting among union members to authorize a strike. When they did, 92% of the union voted in favor of doing so. After progress was not made at the bargaining table as the administration stuck to their position without budging, the union authorized the strike and went out on the picket line. After a two-day strike, negotiations on the contract resulted in a tentative agreement protecting tuition waivers for grads at UIUC. Subsequently, the union unanimously voted to suspend their strike and vote on accepting the contract agreement. The GEO claimed the strike and ensuing contract as a major victory for grad student workers at UIUC. We add that this was a major victory for grads everywhere, with student workers standing up for their rights and winning through organization and collective action.

The American Association of University Professors, whose president Cary Nelson is a faculty person at UIUC, strongly supported the GEO strike. The national president of the AFT, Randi Weingarten stood up in support of the striking grads as well. In addition, many other groups, including other unions in the area and the graduate/undergraduate student alliance, and individuals, including many faculty at UIUC, joined in supporting the strike.

In solidarity with the grads at UIUC, with the GEO, and with the struggles of grad student workers everywhere, the TAA sent down a contingent to support the strike. TAA Staffer Claiborne Hill (and her very cute kids) and member-activists Tim Frandy and Alex Hanna joined with dozens of other grad union activists from around the Midwest (including our brothers and sisters at the Milwaukee Graduate Assistants' Association) to assist in organizing, march on the picket lines, and generally stand in solidarity. This blog post has an interesting take and some footage of the picket lines, including Professor Nelson marching with the GEO strikers.

Check out some footage of picket lines shot by Claiborne here and here.

II. Part of a Broader Movement

As we have noted previously, the grad student workers at UW-Madison and the TAA are part of a broader labor movement. We are part of a burgeoning academic labor movement that includes grads, faculty, staff, and post-docs, literally from one coast to the other, from the Upper Midwest to Southern States, and even into Canada. We are part of a four decade-long graduate student worker labor movement as well. In fact, the TAA was the nation's first grad union, officially beginning in 1969 as grads at UW-Madison organized to take on democratizing the university.

The struggles of one grad union, or really, of any workers, anywhere is a struggle for us too. What happens to grads at UW-Madison does not happen in isolation. As a union, we believe we are stronger together, be it at our university or across the university community of the entire nation. The successful strike at UIUC demonstrates one way that collective action and organization improves the lives of graduate student workers and all academic workers.

III. Public Employees and Public Institutions Under Assault

In recent years, the forty year assault on public institutions and public employees has grown more virulent. Bad policy and worse politics have created a situation where the role of public institutions has been delegitimized while the people who make them work are at times denigrated. The mania to cut taxes and reduce government outlays for critical things like higher education have left university budgets starving, rendering them more reliant upon private money and at the same time taking out perceived fiscal struggles on academic workers.

Public employee unions and in particular academic worker unions have stepped up to provide a challenge to this broken model. The systemic challenges we face require a systemic-level solution, something that unions as collective vehicles provide.

So where tuition remission, healthcare benefits, or living wage stipends come under attack because of the assault on universities and other public institutions, our union is our way to fight back. This is what the GEO did in their strike, and this is what the TAA does every day to protect and advance the interests of grad student workers at UW-Madison.

For a story on other academic worker and student struggles, check out this piece from Democracy Now. Former grad union leader and Cal State faculty-person Marc Bosquet maintains a great blog called "How the University Works" on the changing nature of the academy and the struggles waged to combat it, including the work of academic unions. You can check that out here.

IV. Unions & Striking

One tool that unions possess to assert the rights and protect the interests of workers is the strike. This is almost always a last-ditch deployment when all else has failed, and usually the result of management refusing to budge in collective bargaining. Strikes are one form of collective action.

In Wisconsin, public employees, including grad student workers, do not have a legal right to strike (which is different than in Illinois). Ultimately, while this removes one tool from our disposal, we still have the ability to take collective action to protect our interests and to assert our rights. A union is a vehicle for collective action, no matter what the particular form might be.

posted by Webmaster

TAA Political Platform

From a previous entry here on our website:

The democratic political process impacts us tremendously. So we must impact it.


Political action is one of the most important ways that our union advances our interests, our agenda, and our well-being. Our political program is the way we do it.


The intersections of the union and politics are many and multi-faceted (and why we don't just mean "elections" and "lobbying" when we say "politics"). That's why the work of our Political Education Committee (PEC, or "peck") is important.

PEC is working on a few critical projects this year. One of those projects is revising our old political platform. The platform is a statement of our principles and values in the broad realm of "politics." It's also a document that can and should guide how we decide to organize and mobilize in the political arena. In short, the political platform is really important for a strong Political Education Committee and a strong union.

This year, we are going to work to develop and build our political platform through a big, intra-union democratic project. The idea is to have as many members contribute ideas for the platform on the issues and its construction. We'll plan on doing this in a number of steps, all of which leading toward crafting a final platform by the end of the spring semester.

So if you're interested in being a part of creating our statement of political values, principles, and ideas, let our PEC leaders know, emailing PEC chair Peter Rickman and political platform lead Jason Tatum.

posted by Webmaster

December General Membership Meeting

The next General Membership Meeting of the union, the last for the 2009 fall semester, will take place on December 3rd at 5:30 PM at the Pres House.

General Membership Meetings, or GMMs, are where we make decisions as a democratic organization on union matters. They're also venues for updates and information on critical union business, like collective bargaining and our contract. Attending a GMM is a great way to plug in to the union and to exercise your important rights and responsibilities as union members. We'll have some light food and beverage for folks, in addition to the scintillating union business.

Among other items of union business, we will be covering an update and discussion on 2009-2011 contract negotiations, Constitutional changes, and the development of our political platform. Stay tuned for more info; we'll see you there; and if you have any questions in the meantime, drop us an email.

posted by Webmaster

Union Workshop Tuesday!

November 8, 2009

We are holding another "Basics & Beyond" union workshop this coming Tuesday. On November 10th, at 5 PM at the TAA office. If you have not yet been able to make it to a union workshop this year, whether you are new this semester or have been around for years, you should attend!

These union workshops have proven to be great for people to learn more about unions, the TAA, who we are and what we do, and how rank-and-file members fit into our democratic union. They are also a great way to get plugged in to what the union is doing to advance the cause of grad student workers.

So join us Tuesday...

WHAT: "Basics & Beyond" Union Workshop
WHEN: Tuesday, November 10th, 5:00 PM
WHERE: TAA Office; 254 W. Gilman St., above American Apparel
WHY: To learn more about unions, the TAA, who we are and what we do, how you fit in; to meet some fellow grads from across campus; to eat some FREE FOOD

With any questions, shoot us an email.

posted by Webmaster

Building Our Political Program

November 7, 2009

On Thursday, November 19th at 7:30 PM, our Political Education Committee will be meeting to work on political action projects for the 2009-2010 academic year and the 2010 elections. Consider yourself invited! With questions or to RSVP, please contact Political Education Committee chair Peter Rickman.

The democratic political process impacts us tremendously. So we must impact it.

First: As public employees, the decisions that get made about our lives as grad student workers (both as students and as workers) are made by elected officials and people appointed by elected officials. The state political scene affects us most directly in this way. From wages and benefits to the state of the university and even the nature of academia, the political process in Wisconsin touches us very directly and importantly as public employees.

Second: As citizens, the decisions that get made -- and what decisions get made -- about our lives are made by elected officials and other political actors. The political scene at the local, state, and national levels affects us directly and indirectly. Issues like healthcare and climate change, higher education funding and labor markets, transportation and civil rights are all decided upon in the political arena -- and they all affect us now and in our futures.

Third: As union members part of a larger labor movement, the political arena is where we advance our vision of a progressive and democratic society. The core values and principles that animate unionism, like solidarity, justice, and democracy, are made real in the political process. Politics is the contesting for power around authoritative allocation of priorities and action on values and principles. We must act in this arena to advance our vision of social solidarity, justice, and democracy.

Our union is our collective vehicle to take action on all things that affect us, be it collective bargaining or political activity. So through our union we build our political power to impact the going-ons of politics.

Our union has a Political Education Committee that serves as our program planning and driving body. The "PEC" (or "peck" in union parlance) makes decisions on who we endorse as candidates and how we endorse them, what our legislative agenda will be and how to pursue it, how we allocate resources from our political action committee, and what our political strategy will be. PEC also builds our political program among union members; as a union, our strength lies in people-power, the strength of numbers, the strength of grassroots organizing and activism.

Our PEC has a number of important and dare we say exciting projects on tap for the 2009-2010 academic year, both for our political program at large and with respect to the upcoming 2010 elections. For those who do not know, in 2010 Wisconsin will vote on who will be governor, who will be attorney general, and who will be in the state legislature.

The projects we have coming up will include creating a political platform and agenda, creating a new candidate endorsement questionnaire, educating members about the political process and particular issues, determining if and how to be involved in spring 2010 municipal elections, and beginning to mobilize around the 2010 fall elections. Each project will have a lead person from the PEC driving it. But for these projects to be successful, for us to build the strongest political program possible, we need members to be involved in developing and advancing the projects.

On Thursday, November 19th at 7:30 PM, the PEC will be meeting to talk about these projects. Consider yourself invited to join with the PEC as we begin in earnest our work on these projects. You can attend the meeting on the 19th, or if you like, join in on a project at anytime. With questions prior to the meeting or anytime, contact the chair of our Political Education Committee, Peter Rickman.

Political action is one of the most important ways that our union advances our interests, our agenda, and our well-being. Our political program is the way we do it. So we hope that you join with the PEC in building a strong political program for the TAA!

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TAA Leaders Meet With Chancellor On Monday About Contract, Other Union Stuff

One Contract Down, One More To Go
With the ratification of our 2007-2009 contract, bargaining for the 2009-2011 contract is already upon us. This new contract to be bargained will not only set wages, benefits, standards for workplace treatment and a host of issues, it will also determine the base from which we build for the near- and long-term. Contracts build upon one another as gains are made in increments. The better one contract is, the better the next one will be. So each contract we negotiate has an appreciable impact on your entire graduate career at the university.

We Bargain With the State and the University
As a public employee union of workers at the University of Wisconsin, we bargain our contracts with both the State of Wisconsin and the University. From the state, the Office of State Employee Relations sits at the table; the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin System send people to the table as well. We bargain with everyone all at once. Sometimes the UW aligns with us. Sometimes OSER does. Sometimes neither do. It is all part of our contract bargaining reality.

Union Leaders Working Hard
Union leaders, especially our Bargaining Team, have been working hard to prepare for this round of collective bargaining. We started in the spring last year, before our 2007-2009 contract was even ratified, to solicit input on bargaining planks. Then, we conducted an online vote on priorities and preferences. Following that, we had an interactive session at a General Membership meeting to hash out bargaining planks and their priority. Since then, the Bargaining Team has been putting them together in a bargaining platform and conducting research to back up our proposals. In addition, our Bargaining Team has held informal meetings with OSER, UW and the UW System to lay some groundwork for negotiations.

This Monday, some representatives from our Bargaining Team, our Co-Presidents, and our union's staff will meet with the Chancellor of the University. The conversation will be about shared priorities in the contract, where we agree on issues and to what degree, and how we can actualize our priorities in a contract. It is not usual for us to have such a high-level meeting with leaders from the union and the university sitting down for this kind of a conversation. But it is a very productive development and something we will work to take advantage of.

Sometimes We Align, Sometimes We Don't
In collective bargaining with the State and the University, sometimes the interests and goals of the union and our membership align with theirs, and sometimes they do not. It is all part of the complexity of our negotiating process. For example, the University should have a vested interest in higher graduate student worker wages and take-home pay so as to make the UW as competitive as possible in attracting grads and retaining faculty. But, the University has to pay for this somehow, and potentially increasing our wages means making a determination about priorities. For another example, the State should have a vested interest in a happy and productive workforce that continues to make our public institutions work well. But, the State has to determine what they will agree to in order to make that possible.

When Interests Align, Sometimes We Still Need to Convince Them
As noted above, even when interests align, sometimes we need to convince the State and the University. For example, tuition remission and health insurance coverage. Can you imagine attending grad school without these? Well, the union had to work incredibly hard over years to make these things happen, winning them even after many objections. The UW could not compete with other schools for top quality grads without these provisions in our contract, but we had to win them even against opposition. We cannot ever take for granted that just because something, like increasing grad student worker wages or remitting segregated fees, is a good idea for both us and them, that they will take action on our proposals.

As much as anything, our meeting with the Chancellor is about finding where our interests align and where we agree on that. It is also about beginning to convince them how our interests are their interests too, because that is not always readily apparent to even the wise minds on the other side of the bargaining table from us.

Good Contracts Do Not Happen (Just) At the Bargaining Table
Winning a good contract and convincing the other side to align with our interests does not happen solely at the bargaining table. We need to build power around our ideas, be they power of great argument (e.g. good research and language) or the power of organized people, to win. That is why our union is working to organize people in our union, and why we need you to get involved. You can be involved by joining the Bargaining Team or the Contract Enforcement Committee. You can be involved by becoming a union steward to organize fellow grad student workers. You can be involved by doing more than one too! But we need you to be involved to win a good contract through good organizing to build power around our ideas and interests.

To get involved, the best thing for you to do is to fill out this quick online form. Then, we can follow up with you to get you plugged in. If you have any questions, feel free to drop us an email.

posted by Webmaster

 

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