At UWSP, graduate assistants take on many of the same duties as their counterparts in Madison, and when it comes to the walk out, many say they agree with them too.
Graduate assistants put in about 20 hours a week, average right around a $15,000 salary and pay for their tuition.
"We fill a pretty big hole, you can go as far as saying we're cheap labor," says Brad Bookbinder, UWSP graduate assistant.
Bookbinder says he supports the actions TAs are taking down at the UW Madison campus, and says they're making quite a big statement considering it's at the end of the semester, right around finals.
Some UWSP faculty also agree. They say the TAs have legitimate concerns, but comm professor Bill Davidson says he hopes the situation is resolved soon because their nationally recognized graduate program could be on the line.
"Their ability to recruit really good graduate students helps reimburse them through teaching assistanceships," says Davidson.
Davidson says the problem can be traced to UW cuts made to help fix the $3.2 billion state deficit.
