The Teaching Assistants’ Association decided to decline last week’s 2003-05 contract offer from the Office of State Employment Relations in a general meeting Tuesday night.

The members voted 87-6 that they would decline the state’s offer because it puts members worse off than they are under their current extended contract, said TAA Political Action Committee Chair Mike Quieto.

“The offer is worse than the offer we declined in April, so there is no reason to accept it in March,” Quieto said.

The TAA bargains for more than 3,000 University of Wisconsin teaching assistants and project assistants. It has been in negotiation with representatives from OSER for the past year and a half over the two-year contract.

The TAA met with the state March 2 after nine months of silence between the two groups to propose its fourth contract. The contract proposed by the TAA to the state’s bargaining team included no salary increases for the two-year contract and no health-care premiums. Also, the contract proposed to extend grievance filing to 15 days and get the state’s support for domestic-partner benefits.

However, when TAA members met with the state last week, OSER representatives declined the TAA’s proposal and proposed a new offer that some TAA members described as the worst offer yet.

The proposal from OSER representatives presented last week to the TAA included no pay increases and no-premium health insurance. The no-premium health-care benefits would cost a monthly fee of $11 for single members and $21.50 for members with families.

In addition, the state’s bargaining team told TAA members the previous $948,000 that UW had offered in compensation for TAA members had been spent and was no longer available. Quieto said university officials did not explain where this money had been spent.

The TAA said in a release that the state’s wage plan would put six out of eight pay categories in a worse position than they are now, especially members with families, after adjusting for inflation.

Quieto said that after members were briefed on the state’s proposal Tuesday night, there were a few “cackles” from the audience and then members overwhelmingly voted to decline the offer.

“We said no in April (2004). We’ll say no in March (2005),” Quieto said.

TAA member Boian Popunkiov said he voted to reject the state’s proposal because the proposed contract is “a movement backward on the part of the state.”

“It is the worst offer ever that they have given us,” Popunkiov said.