Select departments of the Teaching Assistants’ Association membership at the University of Wisconsin approved plans to carry out a two-day walkout, followed by a grade strike if necessary.

TAA representatives confirmed that more than 850 of the approximately 900 teaching assistants and project assistants voted to carry out the strike, totaling about 5 percent more than the necessary two-thirds “yes” vote to strike.

“This is not just the leadership [wanting to strike],” math TA and TAA co-president Boian Popunkiov said. “This is the membership speaking.”

The strike would affect more than 1,200 TAs and PAs in about 40 departments in approximately 15 different academic buildings.

“The best kind of strike is a strike that doesn’t have to happen … None of us want this strike to [occur],” TA and TAA strike committee member Carl Whiting said, adding many within the TAA feel all other options for the state to realize the TAA’s demands are exhausted.

The TAA and the Office of State Employee Relations, Wisconsin’s negotiating department, met Monday morning to possibly hammer out a new two-year contract, and OSER submitted a new offer to the TAA. However, during Monday night’s TAA general membership meeting at the Lowell Center, union members voted to reject the state’s new offer presented earlier in the day.

The state offered TAA members a 4.6 percent increase in pay starting next semester, while keeping a 0 percent salary raise for the current fiscal year, raising the previous proposal of a 1.7 percent increase in the second year. However, the state denied TAA demands of a no-premium health-care benefit, sticking to a monthly fee of $9 for individuals and $22.50 for families, rising in the next year.

Jonathan Puthoff, TAA chair of publicity and TA in material sciences and engineering, said many of the members at the meeting said what they were most concerned about was health care. He told The Badger Herald that UW would have to pay more than 12 percent more to TAs and PAs in order to keep up with peer institutions.

The walkout, according to the tentative plan, would take place April 27 and 28, followed by a grade strike. The details of the grade strike are constantly changing, Puthoff said. One of the current options discussed would keep TAs grading student papers throughout the remainder of the semester, but would withhold such grades from the university.

Though Popunkiov did admit this kind of work section might be considered unfair to undergraduates, he added the state’s attitude to both the undergraduate program at UW and graduate employees is “unfair.”

“We’re committed to minimizing the effects on undergraduates.”

Though the possibility of a strike seems eminent, TAA members voted to hold another bargaining session before April 27, and an additional TAA general membership meeting is scheduled for Monday night to further discuss plans of the strike or accept a contract if OSER responds with a proposal suitable of the union constituents’ demands.

UW’s TAs and PAs have been working without a contract for about 10 months, though negotiations have taken place with OSER since July 2003.