TRACBRA: Logistics document

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WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE TEACHING AND RESEARCH ASSISTANTS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS ACT


In order to convince Congress to support this legislation, GSOC/UAW has mounted an online petition [available at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/]. We are also writing letters to and arranging meetings with our membership’s Congresspersons. Because we believe that this bill will lead to great progress for the graduate employee labor movement, we hope that you will join us by contacting and meeting with the people who represent your district in Congress.


Coordinating Our Efforts Will Make All the Difference

Please keep the following guidelines in mind as you organize for the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act:

  • Please make sure to keep GSOC/UAW up to date on your correspondence and meetings with Senators and Representatives in Congress.
  • Your union will need to take responsibility for requesting meetings with your district’s Congressional representatives. Your union is also responsible for mailing form letters of support from individual constituents.


What You Can Do: Email, Call, Write, Visit!

While an email is better than nothing, letters tend to carry more weight with members of Congress. Handwritten letters are the most effective, but form letters are also useful in keeping Congress informed of what we want. While phone calls to your Congressperson are also helpful, arranging a personal office visit is probably the most effective action you can take.


Sign the Online Petition

  • GSOC/UAW has posted a petition to all U.S. Congresspersons in support of the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/. GSOC/UAW will be routinely sending the petition to members of Congress. To prevent redundancies, please do not copy the online petition and send it to members of Congress without first coordinating your actions with GSOC/UAW.


How to Submit Form or Handwritten Letters to Congress

  • Address correspondence to members of the House or Senate in this format:


Honorable____________
House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515


Honorable____________
Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510


  • If your union is collecting signatures on form letters that urge Congresspersons to support the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act, then your union should follow the above steps to make sure the letters reach Congress. Please let GSOC/UAW know if you are using form letters and also how many you send and to whom you’re sending them.


How Your Union Can Plan an Office Visit:

  • Contact your union representative and let them know you would like to visit your Congressperson.
  • Your union representative should then fax the Scheduler at your Senator’s or Representative’s District Office with a short summary of the subject you wish to discuss [Please see the “Sample Fax Requesting a Meeting with your Congressperson” document].
  • You union representative should request, if at all possible, to meet with the Congressperson and not with the staff.
  • After your union representative has faxed the Scheduler, your union representative should place a follow up call to the Scheduler.
  • If your union representative is requesting a meeting in the District (as opposed to D.C.), please plan to be available during a “District Work Period,” i.e., when Congress is in Recess.
  • Once a meeting has been scheduled and after it has taken place, please update GSOC/UAW. If meetings end with the Congressperson still not completely sure that they want to co-sponsor or vote for the legislation, our allies working in Washington can seek them out and work on changing their minds.
  • If a meeting with a Congressperson ends with a pledge to co-sponsor the legislation, use THOMAS, the legislative database of the U.S. Congress, to confirm that they have followed through and officially entered their support. Go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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