TAA-Madison – TAA – Graduate Worker Union of UW-Madison

Letter in support of the students, faculty and broader community of Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico

December 10, 2021

Letter in support of the students, faculty and broader community of Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico

CIDE, a publicly-funded research center in Mexico, has earned international recognition as one of the best research and education institutions in Social Sciences in Latin America. Yet, the institution has been under attack from the federal government since last year.

As members of the international academic community, we recognize the need for science and education for any democracy to subsist and thrive, and the crucial importance of freedom of speech and transparency in academic institutions. For these reasons, we express our support for CIDE students and faculty as they defend their right to dissent and to be heard in the decision-making processes of the institution.

This letter is a call from the international academic community to CONACYT and the Mexican Government to respect the rights of CIDE students and professors to peacefully protest and to address their legitimate demands.

In solidarity,

TAA Executive Board - The Graduate Worker Union of University of Wisconsin-Madison

December 10, 2021SolidarityBy TAA-Madison

Statement of Support for Striking University of California Graduate Research Workers

December 6, 2021

The TAA stands in solidarity with the Graduate Student Researchers of the University of California system as they strike for the right to unionize with United Auto Workers (UAW) as the Student Researchers United (SRU) 1,2. We call upon UC to formally recognize SRU as representative of all graduate research workers regardless of appointment category, and to negotiate a fair compensation that reflects the cost of living and inflation.

This is a historic moment for graduate worker unions across the country. Graduate workers have been exploited and abused at the hands of university administration since universities were founded, and the last year and a half of the pandemic has made clear just how little they think we deserve.

We empathize with the pain of the 17,000 Student Researchers of the UC System, and fully support their demands for university housing, rent control, fair living wages, better working conditions, paid medical leave, and a workplace free of discrimination or harrassment 3. In the UW System and at UW-Madison, we face similar hostility and neglect from administrators who routinely choose profit over graduate worker health, happiness, and safety.

Our administration increased campus housing costs during the pandemic, implemented a partial reopening plan that harmed the entire community, and continued its policy of semesterly wage theft in the form of the oppressive segregated fees - all of which create a crushing burden for Student Researchers. UW-Madison administrators are able to insist on cruel policies like these precisely because they choose not to recognize the grad worker union and refuse to bargain with graduate students. As such, graduate workers here at UW-Madison stand in solidarity with UC’s Student Researchers United in their fight for union recognition. We are proud to support the SRU in this historic moment.

Sincerely,
TAA - the Graduate Worker Union of University of Wisconsin-Madison

___________________

1 https://lookout.co/santacruz/ucsc-cabrillo/story/2021-10-27/uc-santa-cruz-grad-students-demand-increased-housing-stipend-recognition-of-uc-student-researchers-union

2 https://capitolweekly.net/ucs-grad-student-researchers-seek-union-link-with-auto-workers/

3 https://studentresearchersunited.org/

December 10, 2021General, SolidarityBy TAA-Madison

TAA Executive Board Response to Graduate Worker “Pay Raise”

November 12, 2021GeneralBy TAA-Madison

TAA Executive Board Supports the Harvard Graduate Student Union Strike

The TAA Executive Board signed onto the Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU-UAW) Community Strike Support Letter, which will be delivered to the Harvard University administration. We stand in solidarity with the Harvard student workers as they strike for fair compensation that adequately reflects the cost of living and inflation, real protections against all forms of…

October 29, 2021General, SolidarityBy TAA-Madison

TAA Signs onto Higher Ed Labor United Vision Platform

At the General Membership Meeting on September 20, 2021, TAA members voted to endorse the Higher Ed Labor United Vision Platform. Higher Ed Labor United is a national coalition of unions organizing to transform higher education. The TAA supports their vision for higher education: “We envision a future in which higher education is treated and…

October 26, 2021GeneralBy TAA-Madison

TAA Presidential Transition and Special Election Results

We are writing to let you know Miranda Alksnis stepped down as TAA co-president on August 16th, 2021 for mental health reasons. Two years of Zoom TAA work has taken a toll on all of us, and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who stepped up during this pandemic to support…

October 23, 2021GeneralBy TAA-Madison

TAA Signs Petition Urging AFT to Disaffiliate From Cop Unions

The TAA signed the “Call on the AFT to Disaffiliate From Cop Unions” petition, written by members of two AFT caucuses: RAFT at Temple University and RAFA at City University of New York. The petition “demand[s] that organized labor cease its collaboration with, and support for, the repressive state apparatus in the form of police…

October 16, 2021GeneralBy TAA-Madison

TAA Endorses Rebecca Kemble for Madison Common Council, District 18

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…

February 1, 2021General, PoliticalBy TAA-Madison

TAA Executive Board Letter to Randi Weingarten Urging Support of Dr. William Spriggs for Secretary of Labor

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.…

November 24, 2020General, PoliticalBy TAA-Madison

TAA Passes Resolution Opposing the DHS Proposed Rule Changes to Visa Status

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…

October 22, 2020General, International Students, PoliticalBy TAA-Madison

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