We invite you to join us by:
- ✅ Signing up for in-person picketing (see our picket line policies here).
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✅ Signing up for virtual picketing.
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📷 Taking and posting a photo to build pressure before the strike! You can print out or display this poster in front of you on a screen and post your photo to social media with #CUonStrike #CUContractNow. Please also send your photos to columbiagradunion@gmail.com to be shared on GWC’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Additional graphics for social media can be found here.
On March 15th, GWC-UAW Local 2110’s Bargaining Committee will call a strike unless the university administration agrees to a fair contract. Two years of bargaining is too long to not have reached an agreement that ensures:
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a living wage (we are demanding a minimum of $41k for all doctoral workers for the next year and $35/$26 for minimum hourly graduate/undergraduate workers),
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meaningful improvements to health benefits that include dental and vision coverage,
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union shop, and
If we do not reach a contract we deserve by March 15th, we will stop working.
All together, we represent the 3,000+ student workers that contribute to making research and education at Columbia possible. Join us on the picket line as we take collective action to win a strong contract!
We want to make sure everyone has the resources they need for a successful strike. You can find frequently asked questions here, as well as suggestions on how to talk to your students and suggestions on how to talk to your faculty. We also encourage you to write to President Bollinger and Provost Katznelson here.
If Columbia’s administration does not come to an agreement that respects our contribution to the university without a strike, it is necessary for us to withhold our labor together in order to get a fair agreement. It is in Columbia’s power to avert a strike by giving us the contract we deserve after two years of bargaining. It is in our power to secure decent working conditions and a strong first contract. Striking is one of the most effective ways that unions, including this union, have been able to win protections and provisions for workers.
If you have any questions or comments please email columbiagradunion@gmail.com.
General Body Meetings Reminder
As negotiations with the University continue, we are ramping up for our potential strike. The strike deadline is set for March 15th. We invite you to our two upcoming General Body Meetings:
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Monday, March 8, 6-7:15 PM ET (registration link); and
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Tuesday, March 9, 9-10:15 AM ET (registration link).
We encourage everyone who can to attend one or both of these meetings in order to discuss the logistics of the potential strike and to hear from our Bargaining Committee on outstanding issues in bargaining.