The College Fix

The Teaching Assistant’s Association at the University of Wisconsin was predictably supportive of the recall effort against Gov. Scott Walker, who has worked to curb the power of public unions. But its members aren’t crazy about his opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, either. From Inside Higher Ed:

In a vote at a meeting last month, members of the graduate student union decided not to endorse Barrett. The results were close, but many following the build-up to the election were surprised at the decision. One described it as an “own goal,” a soccer-related term for scoring against your own team.

The university’s Teaching Assistants’ Association is no longer a certified union, because of the new rules that Walker’s administration put in place making it harder for unions to recertify. And yet, some members balked at supporting Barrett, even though they want Walker out.

The recall campaign was about collective bargaining, they said, but Barrett’s campaign is not. And, according to them, the Democratic candidate, as mayor of Milwaukee, took advantage of some of the new rules that Walker put in place to reduce benefits to workers.

“Tom Barrett not being Scott Walker is just not good enough,” said Dan Suárez, an association member and a Ph.D. student in sociology at the university, who voted against endorsing Barrett. “I am not speaking for the union, but we have to have a larger view of this. I think Barrett is a severely underwhelming candidate.”

Suárez felt that Democrats tend to take unions for granted. “They seem to think that ‘Let us not think about labor; they are going to vote for us no matter what. Let’s go after the fence-sitters in the middle,’ ” he said.

Hell hath no fury like a teachers union scorned (or even slightly ignored).

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