The Teachers Assistants’ Association, the union covering University of Wisconsin TAs and Program Assistants, staged an informal picket in front of Van Hise Hall Friday morning amid a Board of Regents meeting.

The picketers brandished red picket signs, posted signatures of TAA supporters in the Van Hise lobby and posted signs on the doors of Van Hise Hall stating: “Welcome to Van Hise: Home to 240 underpaid graduate employees.”

Jonathon Puthoff, a UW TA in material sciences and engineering, said although union members are concerned about no or low pay raises in the future, the TAA is most concerned about the lack of health care. The state of Wisconsin has proposed to introduce monthly premiums to the TAs’ health-care packages. Under last fiscal year’s contract and many years prior, the TAA’s members have had free health care.

“It’s the only benefit we get,” Puthoff said of the health-care package.

The state has proposed a $9 premium for individuals and $22.50 for family health care for the current academic year. This may increase to $11 for a single person and $27.50 for families for the 2004-05 academic year.

“Once [health-care prices] go up, it won’t go back down,” Puthoff added.

Rebekah Ravenscroft-Scott, a sociology-of-law TA and vice president of organization within the TAA, accused Gov. Jim Doyle of not following up on his beliefs in a strong college system.

“If Governor Doyle believes in education, he’s got to start backing that up,” Ravenscroft-Scott said.

The TAA has not made any plans to strike, but Puthoff did not say walking out was out of the question.

“We refuse to be scared,” Puthoff said. “We’re taking a really principled stance here. We’re thinking of the long-term ramifications for the university.”

Though staging a strike is not legal under Wisconsin law by TAs, Puthoff said other cases, such as walkouts at the University of Pennyslvania, have been victorious. Puthoff also said UW pays its TAs “well below market value” of other Big Ten universities.

Ursula Lawrence, a TA for Sociology 100 at the University of Michigan, recognizes UW’s low pay and is knowledgeable of the fight for free health care. Lawrence said UM attempted to get rid of free health care mid-contract.

Lawrence said the union for UM’s TAs was successful in negotiating health care because TAs threatened to go on a grade strike and because it was illegal. A grade strike, Lawrence explained, is where TAs refuse to turn in undergraduate student grades until the demands by the union and TAs are met.

“We haven’t been fired,” Lawrence said, adding Michigan has a similar law prohibiting TAs to strike. “The university would find such a lack of labor … that could not be rehired [in a short period of time].”

UM’s TAs receive about a $13,000 annual salary with tuition and health care as benefits.

UW’s TAs have worked without a contract since July of 2003, when their last contract expired. Under the contract binding from last year, TAA members typically receive approximately $10,000 in pay per academic year and free tuition as a benefit. Tuition for an eight-credit graduate course load is $3796.39 for in-state students and $11431.59 for out-of-state students.

Puthoff encourages undergraduate students to ask their TAs any questions about the TAA’s predicament, because it is an issue that affects nearly every student.

“We really want to get students to recognize what is going on.”

In a February meeting of the UW Faculty Senate, the governing body endorsed its support for the TAA’s effort to keep the no-cost health care.