Columbia administrators’ continued pattern of opposing the democratic will of RAs and TAs is unacceptable, and cuts against the spirit of our university. Not only did we vote “union yes” by an overwhelming 1602-623 margin in December – a majority of RAs and TAs, nearly 2,000 also reaffirmed support for the union in January by signing on to our petition urging Columbia to drop the objections and come to the bargaining table. Columbia’s effort to annul those votes also ignores the 30,000 allies who signed our petition, as well as numerous elected leaders who have urged the University to respect our democratic vote and start bargaining.
On March 6, the regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision rejecting Columbia’s objections to our historic unionization election. The NLRB hearing officer recommends “overruling the Employer’s objections in their entirety” and concludes that Columbia “has failed to demonstrate that any alleged objectionable conduct occurred which could have affected the results of this election, in which the Petitioner [GWC-UAW] prevailed by more than 900 votes.” You can read the full report from the NLRB hearing officer here.
Yet, the university has chosen to delay again and appeal the regional NLRB’s recommendation. While we are optimistic that the Board in Washington, D.C., will uphold the regional NLRB recommendation and re-affirm our election result, we are deeply disappointed that Columbia and its lawyers have once again used the legal process to delay bargaining.
Add your name to our petition below.
As of February 21st we have over 32,071 signatures and counting: