Tl;dr  We have a new Bargaining Committee!! (1) Fill out this 5-minute survey to give input on bargaining strategy. (2) Sign up here to join a working group to draft contract articles. (3) Add this Google calendar to stay up to date on meetings/events.

 

Columbia Student Workers! 

The Worker Empowerment team is excited to serve as the new Bargaining Committee, after being elected with the highest turnout for a BC election in our union’s history! We commit to lead a campaign that engages our unit in large numbers, puts pressure on Columbia, and gets us a strong contract that will be enthusiastically approved by an overwhelming majority of the unit as quickly as possible. 

We’re also excited to have ratified our first unit bylaws that will guide our roles and ensure we have a strong, transparent, democratic, and inclusive path to a contract. 

This vote is a new start for our union, now Student Workers of Columbia (SWC), signaling the inclusion of undergraduate student workers who constitute a substantial part of our unit.  

We are in a stronger negotiating position with (1) the anticipated return of in-person teaching this Fall, (2) Columbia’s admission that it is in a better-than-expected financial situation, (3) the historically unprecedented No-vote on the previous tentative agreement, and (4) the recent successes of our colleagues at NYU and Brown.

Our campaign for a strong contract can only be successful with the active engagement of the unit. Please encourage members you know to fill out this bargaining survey. It will only take 5 minutes and will help shape our upcoming bargaining strategy. 

Sign up to help shape and strengthen our bargaining strategy here, by:

  • Organizing your department or cohort
  • Joining a working group on: 1) Social Media; 2) Polling; 3) Solidarity (with faculty, postdocs, other unions); 4) International Student issues; 5) addressing Discrimination and Harassment; 6) Cost of Living; 7) University Finances; 8) Strike Planning 9) Healthcare
  • Joining a committee to oversee: 1) Communications; 2) Records; 3) Process and Internal Government; 4) Grievances

We also have a calendar that will be updated with all open meetings. Any member can add an event to this calendar (adding an event automatically sends a request to the admin for approval). Please add it to your Google calendar to stay up to date.

Questions? Reach out to us at: gwc.bargaining@gmail.com 

Let’s get this bread,

Student Workers of Columbia Bargaining Committee