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Wednesday Stewards' Council Meeting On "Vote No" Campaign

February 28, 2010

In last week's General Membership Meeting, we voted to endorse a "NO" vote on the upcoming referendum to increase Segregated Fees. When we decided to endorse a "NO" vote, we also decided that we would make this our priority organizing campaign.

So, we need you to get involved on the campaign!

There are two ways that you can get involved on our campaign to beat the seg fee increase. One thing you can do is to sign up to join the campaign by filling out a quick online form here. A fellow TAA activist will follow up with you to get you plugged in.

The other way to get involved is to join our Stewards' Council meeting this Wednesday evening to make decisions on how we will build our campaign. Here are the relevant details:

WHAT: Stewards' Council Meeting to Plan the "Vote No" Campaign
WHEN: Wednesday, March 3rd
WHERE: TAA Office, 254 W. Gilman St
Note: We will have food and beverage for all attending the meeting, so we need to plan on the right number of people attending -- please RSVP to our Stewards' Council co-chairs Ari Eisenberg and Katie Weigel.

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Campaign to Fight Back Against Segregated Fee Increases

February 27, 2010

When we decided at our last General Membership Meeting to endorse a "NO" vote on the upcoming Segregated Fee increase referendum, the assembled members also voted to run a campaign around this. We will work to organize grad students and undergrads alike to vote "NO" on increasing segregated fees.

We need you to get involved with the campaign organizing!

This fits with our longer-term project of taking on the issue of Segregated Fees; it is also an exciting, urgent, and important campaign for our union. With just under 6 weeks until voting on the seg fee increase referendum takes place, we need to build a campaign quickly. It's six weeks to fight back on Seg Fee increases -- they are already over $1000 per year and the referendum would raise them over $100 more.

That's why it's so important that you get involved with the campaign

Our work as a union, on this campaign and otherwise, is based upon rank-and-file grad student workers getting involved in the TAA. We need you to join the campaign so that we can win here on stopping Seg Fee increases and build momentum to take on Seg Fees in the longer-term.

Join the campaign today to fight back against Seg Fees!

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TAA Endorses "No" Vote on Segregated Fee Increase

At last week's General Membership Meeting, the assembled membership took up the issue of the impending referendum to raise Segregated Fees to build a new Natatorium on campus.

The University has proposed increasing Segregated Fees, already over $500 per semester and $1000 per year, by over $100 per year in order to pay for a capital building project that would construct a new Natatorium on campus. This increase in Segregated Fees would begin in 2013. A referendum vote on this proposal to raise Segregated Fees will take place on April 12-14. [For some campus newspaper coverage and comments, take a look here.] For many of the people voting on this potential increase in Segregated Fees -- with the exception of grad students -- the proposed raise in costs will never affect their wallets. The referendum has been constructed to be voted upon now, to be paid for later.

After educational workshops early in the General Membership Meeting and discussion on the floor, the assembled TAA membership voted on what position the TAA would take on the referendum. The General Membership voted to endorse a "NO" vote on the referendum to increase Segregated Fees.

In the coming days, we will be putting together a campaign around the "NO" vote on the Seg Fee increase referendum as part of our longer-term work to take on the issue Segregated Fees. Stay tuned for more information.

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General Membership Meeting Tuesday!

February 22, 2010

Our major General Membership Meeting will be taking place on Tuesday (February 23rd) at 5:30 PM at the Pres House.

This General Membership Meeting is highly important for a number of decisions we will be making as a union. Our union is a democratic organization that makes decisions collectively on the big issues in front of us. Two of those issues for grad student workers right now are our contract bargaining and what to do about segregated fees.

Here is the tentative agenda for the GMM on Tuesday (which will start right at 5:30 PM):

1. Small-Group Education Stations Here, TAA activists will conduct rotating 5 minute mini-workshops on the issues in front of us to provide background. Member democracy depends upon informed citizenship in the union, so this will prime our discussions and debates in agenda items #2 and #3.

2. Bargaining Strategy & Segregated Fees Discussion and Debate Here, we will discuss and debate potential avenues for how we will approach wages and segregated fees in bargaining and beyond, including a potential comprehensive campaign around them both. This item includes balloting on bargaining and segregated fee issues.

3. Natatorium Segregated Fee Referendum Discussion and Debate Here, we will discuss and debate the impending referendum on increasing segregated fees for a new Natatorium on campus. This item includes voting on how the TAA will approach the referendum.

You can RSVP here on the Facebook event listing. While you're at it, you should become a fan of the TAA on Facebook too.

With any questions, please contact Co-Presidents Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom.

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General Membership Meeting February 23rd!

February 12, 2010

At our upcoming General Membership Meeting (GMM) on February 23rd, the TAA will be making major decisions that impact all grad student workers. We will be taking up for discussion and decision two big issues. One will be our strategy for bargaining our new contract. The other will be our strategy for addressing the impact of Segregated Fees. We will also discuss how we will implement these strategies through the work of our union.

Having a strong turnout at this meeting is crucial for our union and for our priorities of grad student workers. We are a democratic union, so the more people who participate in decisions like these, the better the decisions we make will be and the more those decisions will speak to and speak for all grad student workers. All grads are welcome at this GMM.

The General Membership Meeting will be on Thursday, February 23rd at 5:30 PM at the Pres House.

To RSVP for the GMM on February 23rd, please take a moment to fill out this quick online form.

On the form, you can also indicate that you would be able to help spread the word about the GMM to fellow grads. We want this meeting to have lots of grads there to exercise the union democracy that makes the TAA strong. So if you can do something to help spread the word, you can help build the meeting and our union. So fill out the form to let us know how you can help recruit people!

With any questions, please be in touch with TAA Co-Presidents Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom.

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Union Activism Through the TAA Spring Organizing Campaign

We have kicked off our spring organizing campaign, and we need you to get involved!

Our spring organizing is focused upon three main themes: bargaining our new contract, addressing Segregated Fees for all grads, and building a larger, stronger union.

One thing around which we are organizing right now too is to recruit grads to attend our February 23rd General Membership Meeting. At this meeting, we will be making big decisions on the collective bargaining and Seg Fees topics around which our main thrust of organizing is centered.

To get involved with our spring organizing campaign, take a moment to fill out this quick online form.

A fellow TAA activist will follow up with you to get you plugged in with the campaign.

On the campaign, we are getting out organize in departments and buildings all across campus. This means that we are having individual face-to-face conversations with as many grad student workers as possible about the priorities of our union and how we as grad student workers are working through the TAA. Having these kinds of conversations is the most effective - and fun - way to communicate between the TAA and the grad student workers who make up our union. We are building our campaign and our union, as legendary organizer Cesar Chavez would say, one conversation with one person at a time.

Broadly speaking, we can think of organizing as changing of structural power dynamics by connecting and activating networks of people, resources, and ideas. By having these conversations with grad student workers on our organizing campaign, we are connecting all of us with one another around our priorities to activate all of us through the TAA as our union.

To run a successful campaign, we need you to be involved -- So sign up to join the campaign today!

With any questions, please be in touch with our Co-Presidents, Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom.

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Union Activism for Those Who Don't Like Talking To Strangers

We like to say that our union, like the University, works because we do. As a democratic, member-driven union, the TAA functions because of the involvement and activism of our membership.

At the meta-level (a term only a grad student could use!), the TAA works through organizing, collective bargaining, and political action to advance the priorities of grad student workers. Perhaps most importantly among this is organizing*, which we do a lot of on the implementation level through having one-on-one conversations with fellow grad student workers about the role and work of our union.

While organizing like this, through individual-level conversations, is incredibly important for the success of our union, it is not the only program of import. To do good organizing, there are a lot of 'behind-the-scenes' projects, and these are critical to the success of the union too.

Some people do not like to engage in the face-to-face conversations with 'strangers' implicit in organizing. While we would argue that anyone can do it and that everyone should, we recognize that some people want to contribute to their union without doing this kind of work. And that's cool too.

Right now, as part of our ongoing organizing efforts around contract negotiations, Segregated Fees, and building a stronger union, the TAA has a number of projects on which members can get involved without going out to speak with strangers.

We want you to get involved with our union! If being involved in projects that don't require speaking with strangers sounds like something in which you might be interested, just fill out this quick online form.

A fellow union activist will be in touch with you to get you informed about the project(s) you might want to be involved with and to get you plugged in.

For example, we are working on updating and re-building our current membership database. We need activists to help verify and input data as well as to manage what's already there. As another example, some folks have expressed an interest in getting new TAA bulletin boards up in every department (guaranteed by our contract). And there are always a variety of administrative and organizing-support tasks and projects on which to work.

The most important thing is that you get involved somehow. For those who want to dive in with organizing fellow grad student workers or to get involved with a union committee (e.g. Bargaining, Contract Enforcement, Stewards' Council), awesome! For those who want to be involved in the union through projects without organizing fellow grad student workers through direct canvassing, that's cool too. Again, we just want you to get involved with your union.

With any questions, please be in touch with our Co-Presidents, Peter Rickman and Katie Lindstrom.

* A good working definition of "organizing" is the changing of structural power dynamics by connecting and activating networks of people, resources, and ideas.

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TAA Co-Hosting GSC Happy Hour This Friday

This coming Friday, February 19th, the TAA is co-hosting a Happy Hour with the UW Graduate Student Collaborative (GSC). We'll be at Paisan's restaurant, overlooking Lake Monona. The GSC periodically puts on Happy Hours like this to provide grads an opportunity to meet up with and have a good time with one another. They approached us about putting on a Happy Hour together, and we jumped at the chance. Our union is a collective of grad student workers, so it is important to be connected with fellow grads.

Here are the relevant details:

WHAT: GSC + TAA Happy Hour
WHEN: Friday, February 19th; 5:00 PM to ???
WHERE: Paisan's restaurant, 131 W. Wilson St.

For the Happy Hour, food and drinks (appetizer fare) are cheap. Come on by to hang out and have a great time with fellow grads. With any questions, contact TAA Co-President Katie Lindstrom.

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Volunteer Night (and Day) This Week

February 6, 2010

As noted last week, we are reviving an old TAA tradition by bringing back Volunteer Night.

These events are a combination social gathering of grad student workers and union activism. The premise is simple: get TAA members together to have a little fun and hang out while working on some union projects that we can complete in our office.

This week, we are hosting two events:

On Thursday, February 11th, we will hold a Volunteer Night. Starting at 5:30 PM and running for an hour and a half or so, we will work on putting together a mailing to go to non-member grad student workers who are in our bargaining unit. We'll have some food and beverage, do a little collating, stapling, and folding, and get some important union work done while we hang out. If you're down for Thursday Volunteer Night, drop an RSVP email to Co-President Peter Rickman; he'll be hosting Thursday's Volunteer Night this week.

On Friday, February 12th, we will host a Volunteer Day. This is an experiment of sorts, our first Volunteer Day (as opposed to just at night). Starting at 9 AM and running all day, we will work on doing updates to our database to manage our information better -- and to better organize our union. People can sign up for a 2-hour shift (or whatever works for you) throughout the day. So if you're down for Friday Volunteer Day, drop an RSVP email with a time that works for you to Co-President Katie Lindstrom; she'll be hosting Friday's Volunteer Day along with Membership Secretary Joe Abisaid.

Both Volunteer Night and Volunteer Day this week will be at the TAA Office, 254 W. Gilman St. The office is at the corner of State and Gilman, up above American Apparel, with the entrance on Gilman St.

See you this week for a good time and union activism as we bring back an old tradition of the TAA.

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TAA On The Facebook

The TAA is on the Facebook. If you're on the Facebook, become a fan.

We'll use our Facebook fan page to send out quick news, information, and updates, to post pictures, and the like.

You should (a) become a fan yourself and then (b) suggest that your fellow grads do the same.

posted by Webmaster

UMass Postdocs Unionize

February 4, 2010

Another victory for the academic labor movement occurred this week in Massachusetts. At the three campuses of UMass, including the flagship research institution at Amherst, postdoctoral researchers won union recognition.

Teaching, research, and graduate assistants at UMass unionized years ago. Postdocs add a few hundred more academic workers to union ranks. In addition to UMass, postdocs are unionized in the University of California System, including at Berkeley and UCLA, as well as Rutgers. Teaching assistants in the UC System are also unionized, with research assistants likely organizing soon. Likewise, teaching assistants, research assistants at Rutgers are unionized.

The postdocs at UMass organized with the UAW as PRO/UAW, the Postdoctoral Researchers Organization. The UAW, originally begun as a union of autoworkers which now includes tens of thousands of professional workers including academics, represents teaching and research assistants in the University of California System and at the University of Washington. The postdocs, teaching, and research assistants at Rutgers are organized with AFT.

This victory for academics represents the latest win for workers who make universities work. Nationwide, nearly 50,000 teaching assistants, research assistants, and postdocs have formed unions to address the challenges academic workers face. In addition, adjuncts, lecturers, and tenured and tenure-track faculty have unionized at dozens of campuses, representing tens of thousands of more academic workers.

AFT, the national affiliate union of the TAA, represents the bulk of these academic workers. AFT has "jurisdiction," or the agreed-upon right to organize among national unions, in academic workers in most states, including Wisconsin. The UAW has won unionization campaigns in some public sector universities among grad assistants and postdocs. While private university graduate student workers lost the right to unionize in a 2004 decision by the Bush National Labor Relations Board, a growing number of public university grads, postdocs, and faculty have the right to unionize. The AFT mostly has jurisdiction with public universities while the UAW mostly has jurisdiction in private universities.

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