The energy in our union is overwhelming as we prepare to strike on Monday, March 15, to win a fair contract! If you have not yet done so, remember to sign-up for in-person or digital picketing shifts.
At today’s bargaining session Bernie Plum, Columbia’s outside legal counsel from Proskauer, revealed that the University is preparing to dock the pay of striking workers. Within the next day, the University is going to formally announce the mechanism in which they plan to enforce it. All student workers in our union will have to log into a website and check off that they are working, and if they do not, their pay will be withheld, including a corresponding portion of the lump sum stipend disbursed at the beginning of the semester charged back to student accounts.
While not paying striking employees is an employer’s right, the introduction and implementation of this decision is meant to intimidate and break our strike preparedness. Nonetheless, Columbia administration will not deter our will to win a contract that is equitable and just.
In preparation for our strike, all student workers going on strike and needing monetary assistance from our union’s UAW Strike Assistance Fund, should sign-up here. After filling out this form, you will receive a direct email from the UAW Strike Assistance Fund with a form you must complete. If your pay is docked, the $275/week strike assistance will begin on the 8th day of our strike. We are also raising money independently into a hardship fund—more details to come soon.
While we encourage everyone to spend 20 hours at the picket line, you must spend at least 10 hours (in-person and/or digitally) picketing in order to qualify for the strike benefits. Remember to sign in and out from your picketing shifts. You can sign up for picketing shifts in-person https://bit.ly/GWCStrikePicket and digitally http://bit.ly/GWCStrikePicketDigital.
GWC-UAW Local 2110 Bargaining Committee