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April 29, 2010


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posted by Peter

Hosting the Spring 2010 AGEL Conference

April 22, 2010

On May 21-23, the TAA will be hosting on campus the 2010 conference of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL). AGEL is the grouping of all the AFT-affiliated grad student worker union locals, like the TAA, from all around the country.

At the conference, we will have workshops, plenary discussions and presentations, and education sessions to help grad unionists grow as leaders in the grad student worker labor movement. Some topics include "Struggles & Victories of Grad Unions in 2009-2010" and "Campus-Community-Union Relationships." AGEL is always a great time, with dozens of grad unionists from all over. We definitely hope you'll join us for what is shaping up to be a great conference. With any questions about the conference, drop us an email.

To register for the 2010 AGEL conference, click here.

posted by Webmaster

Final General Membership Meeting of the Year: May 3rd

April 21, 2010

We will hold our final General Membership Meeting of the academic year on Monday, May 3rd, starting at 5:30 PM (location TITU). You can RSVP for the GMM here.

At the GMM, we will address a few required items of unions business:

- Adopting the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year
- Handling officer stipends for the completed academic year
- Officially opening ballot for officer positions for next academic year

We will also address two other important topics:

- Hosting the AGEL conference
- Bargaining Update

The agenda for this GMM is yet to be finalized, but you can expect that it will look something like this. At the GMM, we will have (vegan-friendly) food and beverages.

Here's a quick explanation of the items of union business:

Nominations for officer elections will be closing on April 30th and at this meeting, our Elections Committee will begin distributing paper ballots. Voting takes place over the two weeks following the meeting.

We will also handle stipends for our current year's officers.

The major item will be adoption of our 2010-2011 budget. Our Finance Committee has prepared a budget that will be brought to the GMM by the Executive Board and the Finance Committee as a motion on the floor. Of particular importance in adopting a budget is making an allocation for an organizing drive during next academic year.

If you have any questions about the GMM, please drop an email to our Co-Presidents Katie Lindstrom and Peter Rickman.

posted by Webmaster

Vote Now: No New Seg Fees!

April 12, 2010

Fellow Grad Student Workers:

Today is the day and now is the time to vote No New Seg Fees!

Segregated fees are already over $1,000 per year. The seg fee increase referendum would hike them another 10%.

Click here to go to the ASM website, on which you can cast your vote against the seg fee increase referendum. Voting commences at 8 AM on Monday, April 12 and closes at 5 PM on Wednesday, April 14.

The TAA membership democratically decided to endorse a “no” vote on this referendum. When we endorsed a “no” vote, we also decided to build a campaign to oppose the referendum. Our No New Seg Fees! campaign has mobilized TAA members, graduate students, and undergraduate students in common cause around a shared concern of runaway seg fee increases. Now, we need you to join the campaign by voting “no” on the seg fee increase for a new Natatorium.

Voting down the seg fee increase referendum will save us money and send a message that we cannot afford any more new seg fees. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard on segregated fees. Today is the day and now is the time to vote No New Seg Fees!

Click here to cast your vote against the seg fee increase referendum.

Then, send along an email to your classmates, co-workers, and those in your department so that they take action along with you to vote “no.”

Also in ASM elections: Two TAA members are running for ASM Grad Student Council in the student government elections as well. We encourage you to vote for Michael Childers and Joseph Kuo.

posted by Webmaster

No New Seg Fees Campaign Update -- Spring Break Edition

March 31, 2010

Even over Spring Break, our No New Seg Fees! campaign continues to work toward Election Days (April 12-14). With just over a week until voting begins after we return from Break, now is the time to get involved on the campaign!

Take a look at our campaign website, at NoNewSegFees.org -- including more on who is a part of our campaign with both undergraduates and graduate students taking part. You can also find out more on the referendum, read some pieces from the campus press, and read an op-ed from one of our activists that ran in the Badger Herald along with one that should be forthcoming.

While you're at it, you should become a fan of No New Seg Fees! on Facebook. We are using the fan page to help organize on the campaign. Better yet, while you're becoming a fan yourself, send an email to all of your UW friends and classmates asking them to become a fan too.

Here's the most important part: We need you to get involved on the campaign. We will win the referendum vote -- and beat the seg fee hike -- if our supporters are involved with the grassroots organizing we need to build the campaign. So sign up to get involved with the No New Seg Fees! campaign to help out with postering, fliering, and tabling.

With any questions about the campaign, drop us an email.

posted by Webmaster

No New Seg Fees Campaign Activity

March 21, 2010

This week as well as over Spring Break, we have a lot going on with our No New Seg Fees! campaign. Now is the time for you to plug in to help us keep building this campaign to be successful come April 12-14. When we win, we'll not only stop an increase in our seg fees, but also send the message that our University community needs to take action of the tremendous adverse impact seg fees are having on grad student workers.

Here are some ways that you can get involved on the campaign in the next week or so -- but don't forget, you can just sign up here to get involved and we'll follow up with you.

Sign the Petition!
The first thing you should do is sign the No New Seg Fees! petition. This petition is letting us know who is committed to vote "No" on the seg fee increase referendum April 12-14.

After you sign the petition, send an email around to your friends, fellow students, and co-workers to ask them to sign the petition as well.

Button-Making Party
On Wednesday of this week, we'll be holding another button-making party at the TAA office. At the party, you can make your very own No New Seg Fees button to wear on campus. You can also make a few buttons -- or snag some that are already made -- to share with your friends as well. We'll have some snacks and beverages too -- so make sure to RSVP here if you plan on joining us. It'll start at 5:30 at the TAA office.

Building Postering & Fliering
We are hitting up every single academic building to put up posters and distribute fliers. We need to sign up to cover a building or two. So if you can help out with postering and fliering, please send us an email to let us know. Include in your email (a) if you have a preference on building(s), and (b) if you're OK with postering/fliering a different building as needed by the campaign.

Building Canvassing
While our campaign includes both graduate and undergraduate students, the base for the No New Seg Fees! campaign will be grad student workers. We're already seeing the $1000 per year in seg fees eat up between 10% and 15% of our take-home pay. So we have a lot at stake in this campaign. We need to connect with all grad student workers to educate them about the issue and get them signed on as a "No" vote for April 12-14.

We're going out to canvass grad student workers, and we need you to sign up to canvass folks in one building. Here's what you do: send us an email to sign up to canvass grad student workers in a building and let us know which building you prefer. We'll follow up with you to get you all the materials you need and some training so that you can go out and (a) have a great time doing it, while (b) being successful.

Canvassing fellow grad student workers is the biggest impact you can make -- and it's a lot of fun to do too. So sign up today so that we can win on the No New Seg Fees! campaign.

Spring Break Poster Party
If you're in town over spring break, on Wednesday, March 31st, you can join with us for a postering party. We'll gather at the TAA office at 11 AM to eat some bagels and drink some coffee before we head out. We're going to hit up all the buildings that are not yet covered with posters to get up all the No New Seg Fees! posters possible. If you can join us, shoot us an email.

With any questions about how you can get involved on the No New Seg Fees! campaign or with any questions about the campaign, please drop us an email.

posted by Webmaster

Contract Up on Our Website, To Be Distributed

March 18, 2010

After some delay, we now have in our hands the "official" contract that covers TAA-represented grad student workers. We have posted it on our website for everyone. Soon enough (eventually), the UW administration will distribute printed versions of the contract to the various departments throughout the university. But in the meantime, feel free to refer to the contract posted on our website and to send around the link to people in your department.

With any questions about the contract, feel free to contact our Vice President of Bargaining, Kevin Gibbons or our staff representatives, Rob Henn and Claiborne Hill.

posted by Webmaster

 

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