Bargaining Team Update

TAU Bargains with WMU’s Administration:

With the wonderful support of our membership, the Bargaining Team has been victorious in securing a contract with the WMU administration. Both Bargaining Teams worked for many hours to reach an agreement which could be brought to a vote before our membership. We made some very simple and modest demands in our proposed contract language. We believe that teaching assistants provide a valuable service to the university, a service that is both requisite for the university’s operation as well as desirable for graduate education. We did not ask for the sun and moon, but decent healthcare, fair compensation for our work, and some protection from arbitrary and eccentric policies. We feel as though this contract, which was brought to a vote by a consensus at our general membership at a meeting on April 20th, and approved by a ballot the following week, makes some very real gains for our unit.

This, however, is the beginning. With a contract in place we are now protected from further budgetary cuts for the duration of our two year contract. We understand that the university is in a very difficult financial position and we hope that in the next few years the state of this university improves. In the meantime, we must work to continue organizing our membership and continue to remind the university of the crucial role we play. We firmly believe that this contract gives us a substantial base from which to fight for the fair treatment and just compensation that we deserve.