The 1970 Wisconsin TA Strike

In March 1970 the Teaching Assistants Association at the University of Wisconsin went out on strike for twenty-four days. It was the first TA strike in the history of the United States; the union went on to represent Wisconsin TAs for over fifty years. The film that those students made back then has just been re-edited and re-released, so we sat down with legendary organizer Bob Muehlenkamp – who helped organize the TA union -- to talk about the strike, the film and the labor movement today. Bob wound up leading the Teaching Assistants Association and going on to a long career as a union organizer, he was the National Organizing Director at SEIU-1199, the hospital workers union, and then the Teamster’s Organizing Director.

NOTE: With Babies and Banners (with filmmaker Lyn Goldfarb and CLUW president – and Labor Goes to the Movies podcast co-host – Elise Bryant) screens online FREE on Thursday, January 27 starting at 7p ET; RSVP here.

Produced by Chris Garlock
@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest

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