During Tuesday’s bargaining session, Teaching Assistants’ Association negotiators submitted a contract to Wisconsin Office of State Employee Relations representatives, one that would require union members to pay at least a token amount toward the state health-care package.

Jonathan Puthoff, TAA publicity chair and material sciences and engineering TA, said under the latest round of the TAA’s proposals, the union proposed to contribute about a $1 monthly co-payment for health care, while asking the state to provide an average pay raise of 8 percent in the 2004-05 fiscal year.

The meeting was relatively short. The TAA negotiators simply went through the basics of the offer and handled any questions, Puthoff said.

“There’s not a lot to report; [the bargaining session] only took 20 minutes,” he said.

The issue of health care remains a focus of contention between the state officials and the TAA. Union representatives have said one of the main reasons the TAA has yet to sign a contract is OSER’s refusal to offer the same health-care benefits state employees previously had.

OSER, Gov. Jim Doyle and the conservative state Legislature have pointed to health care as an ideological issue, declaring that, as a policy, state employees should help contribute to health care.

“[We’re] going to make [OSER’s] political bosses happy,” Puthoff said of the monthly dollar co-payment. “We keep holding our end of negotiations up. Hopefully they do the same.”

The TAA bargainers, however, would still look forward to accepting previous union offers, such as eliminating the monthly co-payment and instituting about a 2.5 percent raise, he said.

OSER representatives could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Under recent contracts with the state, University of Wisconsin TAs and project assistants received no-premium health care. Due to the current state budget crunch, however, OSER proposed a $9 individual and $22.50 family monthly co-payments, which would rise after July 2004 to $11 for individuals and $27.50 for families.

OSER officials have pointed to the rise in health-care costs as to why they don’t offer more in terms of health care.

The TAA committed to a two-day walkout in the last week of April to help legislators and the campus community recognize health care and other “fair contract” aspects to legislators and the campus community.

Following what the TAA calls an “overwhelming success” of the illegal two-day strike, a grade strike was called off. Puthoff said union pressure would not lighten.

The TAA is planning a “singing telegram” to be delivered to the governor at his office Wednesday afternoon.

OSER and TAA negotiators will come back to the table Thursday morning, where OSER will have the choice to offer a counterproposal, make any changes to the TAA offer or accept the union’s proposal. Puthoff said a union membership meeting scheduled for Thursday will follow the bargaining session, where members will “get up to speed” and may decide whether to accept a state contract.