Approximately two thirds of the graduate student teaching assistants (TAs) at Western Michigan University have filed for a union representation election with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC). The newly formed union, the Teaching Assistants Union (TAU), filed its representation petition and membership cards with MERC on Monday, February 13, 2006.
Teaching assistants teach hundreds of undergraduate credit hours on the Kalamazoo campus in southwest Michigan, mostly in discussion and lab sections. In some departments, such as English, graduate assistants teach a majority of course sections.
A Teaching Assistant at Western makes as little as 0 per month—but can pay almost half of this income back to the university in tuition, fees and health insurance premiums. The health insurance plan does not cover preventative care, such as yearly OB/GYN checkups, and includes high co-pays on most medical treatment.
Like the GEO here, GEU at MSU, and GEOC at Wayne State, TAU is affiliated with AFT Michigan, the state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.
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