Teaching Assistants Unionize

Union organizers stress wages, health benefits, and respect

By Mary Crystal Cage

Lawrence, Kansas -- By 9 p.m. one Sunday, fatigue was beginning to take a toll on the graduate students manning the telephone banks. It was the eve of an election to determine whether teaching assistants at the University of Kansas would unionize.

Bleary-eyed and a little hoarse, the students continued to call fellow T.A.'s from their downtown headquarters that April night to remind them to vote Yes.

Union organizers have been working feverishly on a lot of campuses lately.