The Teaching Assistants’ Association, the labor union representing TAs and project assistants, has seen about a 10 percent increase in card-carrying membership in the past month or so, with many new constituents signing up in the past two weeks.
Every TA and PA at the University of Wisconsin pays union fees and receives the contract bargained for by the TAA. TAs and PAs, however, must register with the TAA in order to be considered official union members. TAs and PAs who do not sign their cards may not vote on union decisions, such as committing to a TAA strike.
TAA membership has seen more than 200 new graduate-student employees sign on, raising the total voting membership from about 1,700 to more than 1,900.
TAA member and material sciences and engineering TA Jonathan Puthoff said the increase could be mainly attributed to the growing concerns over contract negotiations with the state, which have been ongoing for almost 10 months.
Many TAs and PAs have expressed the need for no-cost health-care benefits, which the Wisconsin Office of State Employee Relations has yet to offer.
“Everybody is realizing the simple driving force of labor movement is through organization,” Puthoff said. “You’ve got to stick together.”
Cindy Poe, a TA in English, agreed with Puthoff about why former non-members sign up.
“This is just speculation, but I think some people didn’t feel the need to join the union in the past,” Poe said. “Now they’re probably thinking, ‘This is something that’s important to me, and the only way to get what we want is to come together.'”
TAA members also argue for better wages, comparable to those at peer universities, and further compensation for the loss of their no-cost health-care plan.
Puthoff did not join the TAA at the beginning of his tenure at the University of Wisconsin. His friend informed him on becoming a member. Puthoff did not know the difference between having one’s contracts negotiated with the TAA and being a card-carrying member, he said.
“[When I first came], I always kind of knew that the TAA was around, but I never thought to interact with them,” Puthoff said.
Puthoff is currently actively involved with union activities.
Card-carrying members do not have any rights that non-card-carrying members do not have, except the ability to vote in TAA meetings and to vote to strike. Non-registered union members are charged slightly less in dues than union members.
Mike Quieto, spokesman for the TAA, said most unions see an influx of voters during a crisis or crossroads in labor relations.
“A lot of unions have this phenomenon,” Quieto said.
With more members, the union can achieve more success, he said.
“The more people means it will be a better union,” he said.
Poe was involved in a strike at the University of Cincinnati in 1993 where professors walked out indefinitely. The strike ended successfully, and professors received a contract the same semester they proclaimed the strike, she said.
This type of strike, where the union would walk out until a contract is reached, is not being considered at UW, Poe said.
“Right now, an indefinite strike is not on the table,” she said.
Shorter strikes and department walkouts, however, have been discussed. The TAA wishes to have the smallest possible effect on the state of education while still receiving its contractual desires, Poe said.
“What we have tried to do, to this point, is to have the least impact on undergrad student education,” she said. “[A strike] is the one option that seems to make the most sense to meet these two standards.”
