Sustaining democracy with collective action
Like other universities, the school has cracked down on activism among students, citing fears of antisemitism. Some professors think it’s gone too far.
Ninety-one percent of the graduate and professional student workers who participated in Monday's election voted to form a union.
After striking for 10 weeks, student workers at Columbia University have a tentative agreement that members will vote on, but they also have a stronger, more democratic union.
Workers went on strike and pushed union drives in record numbers after corporations made giant pandemic profits.
The UAW agreed to a backroom deal with Columbia University that would limit the right of graduate employees to strike for 17 months and severely weaken their bargaining power to negotiate a first contract.
As a proud Columbia alum (College '69) and an officer of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) I was excited to learn of the NLRB's decision last week. However, I was shocked and, frankly, disgusted to read your condescending and arrogant message to the campus community. As one graduate student put it, your letter 'simply encourages graduate workers to eschew this newly right, like telling workers management will look to their interests.'
The National Labor Relations Board's decision on Columbia University graduate students seeking to unionize only applies to private colleges. Organizing rights for graduate students at public colleges depend on each state's labor laws. Graduate students have formed unions in more than a dozen states.
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