Political activist and documentarian Michael Moore addressed more than 700 area students and community members Tuesday in support of wage increases and benefits for part-time teachers and teacher assistants at UW-Madison and Madison Area Technical College.
Moore said he is amazed that despite Madison's progressive background, unionized workers like UW-Madison's Teacher Assistant Association are struggling to receive personal and domestic partner benefits.
\Madison was the first university where teacher assistants formed a union [that] improved the standard of living for people all over the country,"" he said. But that such skilled workers exist ""in third world conditions"" was a troubling contrast to UW-Madison's image as a leading national university, Moore said.
Teaching assistants are underappreciated, but they are the people who have the closest contact with students, said UW-Madison teaching assistant Christer Watson.
""Students come to us for help with their work [because] teacher assistants and project assistants actually know their students' names,"" Watson said.
Moore said he thinks the job instability facing part-time teachers and overall negative economic forecasting are fa??ades, concealing efforts by corporate leaders to take advantage of working class citizens.
""There is no recession, no hard times,"" he said. ""The wealthy are doing everything they can to convince you [of the economic stress].""
Moore said he is also troubled by the national reaction precipitated by President Bush and his administration following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Among reactions by the media to avoid giving offense, Moore said a book he wrote had been tabled indefinitely, ""because of the climate in the country.""
""They want me to rewrite 50 percent of the book,"" he said of ""Stupid White Men,"" which was supposed to be in bookstores Oct. 2.
""[They said,] 'we don't want to offend anybody,' and I don't want that [either],"" Moore said.
American media outlets, he added, have been reluctant to solicit his admittedly different opinion to the president's foreign policy and bombing campaign.
""Since Sept. 11 American networks which have usually not been shy ... have not called and not accepted [my] offers to appear,"" Moore said.
In contrast, Moore said he had been invited to discuss the attacks on British, Canadian, French and Australian nets.
He added that the aftermath of the attacks has only amplified the struggle uninsured workers face.
""None of the people at NBC ... have health benefits,"" Moore said, referring to contracted labor employees in line for anthrax tests.
Illegal workers in the World Trade Center have added to the difficulty in finding a conclusive death count, he added.
""There may have been up to 500 illegal aliens there who did shitwork there [and other places in New York City] ... who would know if they're gone?"" Moore asked.
Moore said people could have a greater political impact than they realize ""if they just saw politics can be for slackers too.\
