TAA Chooses Not to Decertify

The members of the Teachers Assistant Association (TAA), which represents graduate students at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, voted not to hold a recertification vote under the recently enacted Wisconsin Act 10.  A spokesman for the group noted that very little was to be gained from the recertification, whereas much could be lost.  If a union chooses to recertify under Act 10, they must receive a yes vote from 51% of active members and recertify every year.  Failure to recertify would mean they could not make a second attempt for one year.  Public employee unions are limited to bargaining wages only with raises capped at the consumer price index by Act 10.  The TAA is the first such union in the state to take this route.  It will now exist as an unofficial association of employees with no bargaining rights.