Statement on the TAA Endorsement of Rebecca Kemble for Madison Common Council, District 18 The Teaching Assistants’ Association endorsed Rebecca Kemble in her race for Madison Common Council alder during our January Membership Meeting. In her public statements and voting record, Alder Kemble has demonstrated her commitment to environmental justice, public housing and transit, and…
Teaching Assistants’ Association | 520 University Avenue, Suite 220, Madison, WI 53703 | taa-madison.org Dear Ms. Weingarten, On January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. President-Elect Biden has the monumental task of restoring a functional government following four years of incompetence under Donald Trump.…
Whereas the US Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to eliminate duration of status for F students and their dependents, J exchange visitors and their dependents, and I media representatives in the Federal Register on Friday, September 25, 2020; Whereas this rule would limit the admission period for international students from duration of…
August 24th, 2020 We, the TAA at UW-Madison, are saddened and angry at yet another report of an unarmed Black man being shot by police. Last night in Kenosha, WI, Jacob Blake, a 29-year old father of three, was shot seven times in the back by a police officer. His three sons sat in the…
May 29, 2020 The Executive Board of the Teaching Assistants’ Association, the union representing graduate student workers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, condemns the state-sanctioned lynching of George Floyd earlier this week. We stand in solidarity with protesters in Minneapolis and everywhere demanding justice and an end to racist police brutality, including the inspirational actions…
The Political Education Committee of the TAA has published its Spring 2020 Voter’s Guide. The Voter’s Guide contains key information for voting in Madison on April 7th, including: Making a plan to vote safely amid the COVID-19 outbreak TAA endorsements for candidates in the Presidential Primary and Wisconsin Supreme court races Information on candidates running…
As Madison and the university community address public health concerns related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is crucial that adequate protections are in place for graduate workers, their families, and their students. On Wednesday morning, March 11, TAA members sent a list of concerns to UW–Madison administrators, including concerns about the burdens placed on…
UW–Madison policies about graduate students are complex. Some of this is necessary complexity — after all, many of us are employees and students at the same time, and need to be protected and supported in both those roles. But in many cases, grad policy is complex because administrators make it complex — to fit the…
This week’s Cap Times cover story shines a spotlight on UW–Madison graduate workers’ long struggle for quality workplace protections. The article highlights the precarity and stress of working as a graduate assistant, and the fight for new policies and decision-making power. You can also listen to a short podcast, where reporter Yvonne Kim discusses what…
Note: This article includes mentions of suicide. Graduate workers and community supporters gathered on Engineering Mall on Thursday to protest the return of abusive engineering professor Dr. Akbar Sayeed to campus and demand stronger workplace protections for grads. “We’re demanding that graduate assistants have a meaningful voice in crafting policies of the kinds that would…
