As has been reported in these pages, MSU and the Graduate Employees Union are currently engaged in contract negotiations that will determine the contract for the more than 1,300 teaching assistants — myself included. TAs are responsible for one-third of the instruction, two-thirds of the grading, and are in many other ways vital to the life of the university.

Surprisingly, while the administration raised tuition 9.6 percent across the board this year and is giving at least a 2.75 percent annual wage increase to all other bargaining units, the proposal for TAs is a 0 percent wage increase for four years. With inflation at a 17-year high, that proposal amounts to a severe pay cut during that time interval.