Earlier last month, we asked that workers who were in a position to do so delay cooperating with the attestation system as long as possible in solidarity with those still on strike. As the semester comes to an end, we are writing to give more clarity on the issue of attestation.
All workers are free to choose whether or not to attest. However, we strongly encourage anyone who is able to wait until the vote to decide the future of the strike ends next Wednesday. If the unit votes to end the strike, we encourage you to email for your back pay then to ensure we remain in solidarity as a unit.
As a union, we refuse to grant legitimacy to this tool of surveillance that will likely be used against us in future strikes and perhaps implemented on other campuses. We have heard that people are receiving pay if they email regardless of what they write so we suggest this template for emailing:
“I refuse to participate in this attestation surveillance system. I would like my wages returned to me as soon as possible.”
You may e-mail gradpayassist@columbia.edu in order to retrieve your wrongfully held pay or you can file a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor (Form LS223.2). International students are eligible to file complaints with the NYS DoL.