How do we make democratic decisions in Student Workers of Columbia?

At least twice a semester, SWC is required to hold GBMs, also called Membership Meetings. Every member in good standing is eligible to attend and vote in GBMs.

Although our bylaws require us to hold at least two GBMs a semester, in practice, we usually hold more, especially during high-stakes periods like the run-up to a strike or during bargaining.

The bargaining committee is a special temporary committee that members elect when we submit our intent to bargain with our employer.

BC consults members on demands, article language, and bargaining strategy at GBMs and in weekly open BC meetings (find links on our calendar). Sometimes, the bargaining committee must make on-the-fly decisions during a bargaining session. In that case, they will call a caucus, where members pause a bargaining session to weigh in on time-sensitive decisions.

Caucuses are also scheduled right before bargaining sessions to finalize GBM-approved contract language and make last-minute decisions. As of Summer 2026, all member votes directing bargaining decisions are advisory-only, the bargaining committee is very responsive to member feedback but they ultimately have final responsibility for bargaining decisions.

Bargaining is accessible to members in good standing. During bargaining, only the bargaining committee may speak, but every member in attendance can watch in order to make informed decisions while caucusing.

SWC has a number of working groups and committees. Committees are elected roles and enumerated in our bylaws. Working groups are unelected and can be launched as need arises. See the list of our most active working groups here. Any member can join any committee or working group; however, in committees, only elected members may vote.

Committees, like “CommComm” — our communications committee — tend to have specific functions that keep the union running; for example, by managing this website and sending member emails. Working groups tend to develop expertise on certain topics that then become campaigns and/or contract articles. For example, our Healthcare Working Group reviews health fund applications and drafts healthcare contract article language for the full membership to approve before we put it forward in bargaining.

Our Organizing Committee (OC) is a particularly important committee, tasked with coordinating department-level outreach and running card campaigns to grow our membership. All members are encouraged to participate in the Organizing Committee meetings and initatives to help mobilize our fellow workers so we can have effective votes, rallies, and strikes. Participation in this committee is the best thing a rank-and-file member can do to help us reach a strong contract quickly.

Committees and working groups hold their own internal votes to make everyday decisions. For example, comm comm votes internally to approve email drafts before we hit send. On the other hand, if a committee or working group wants to make a bigger decision, they will hold a vote. For example, the Healthcare Working Group agendized a GBM vote to approve a healthcare contract article.

See a full list of committees and working groups here.

Because we are an academic union, our workplace issues often differ from department to department. Additionally, we believe unions operate most effectively when every member has a designated point person to consult as problems arise. That’s where stewards, District Coordinators, and Department Organizers come in.

Stewards are elected by clusters of departments called “districts.” For example, “Humanities,” “Natural Sciences,” “Social Sciences,” and “Professional Schools” (among others) are all districts. Each district elects its own stewards. Stewards have no special voting powers but do have additional responsibilities. They help process grievances.

Department organizers are unelected “helpers” in your department. Many stewards are department organizers and vice versa. It is common for department organizers to schedule department meetings, forward information to group chats, and schedule one-on-ones with members to solicit feedback.

District coordinators are elected to help oversee department organizers.

A very small number of votes work differently.

A very small number of votes work differently.

• Strike Authorization Votes (SAVs) – these are formal votes that allow the bargaining committee to initiate a strike and are regulated by the National Labor Relations Act. See below for more information

• Tentative Agreement votes – “tentative agreements,” or “TAs,” are contract language that both the employer’s and union’s bargaining teams agree to. Once both sides agree on contract language (called “reaching a tentative agreement”), it doesn’t automatically become a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Instead, the National Labor Relations Act requires union members to vote to accept the tentative agreement. It is possible for the full membership to vote not to accept a tentative agreement the bargaining committee reached with the University, even if members who participated in the caucus approved the TA. When that happens, we go back to the bargaining table until we can reach a tentative agreement that our union votes to approve.

• Bylaws Amendments – this is our union equivalent of amending the Constitution.

• Elections — elections for major positions, such as the Bargaining Committee, take place via email instead of in a GBM.

Read more about these special votes in our bylaws.

The EB is empowered to approve financial expenditures, handle administrative tasks between GBMs, and generally provide guidance and oversight to union operations to keep us on track. See our executive board members here.

1. Prior to our last contract expiration: Our membership, organized through working groups, developed a list of grievances and needs for the bargaining unit.

2. Start of negotiations: We announced our intention to collectively bargain for a new contract with Columbia. This process formally began a month before our last contract expired in May 2025.

3. Writing contract articles: The bargaining committee, with the advice of working groups and general body meetings, develops proposed articles.

4. General Body Meeting (GBM) Approval: Prior to bringing forward contract articles, they are discussed in General Body Meetings and open to a vote.

5. Ad-hoc polls of general membership: Since not all members can attend GBMs, some important or controversial demands may be asked about in a poll to gauge support. These results of these polls are respected by the bargaining committee.

6. Bargaining meetings: The bargaining committee and Columbia meet to present and discuss contract articles. According to our bylaws, these meetings should be available to all members regardless of location. However, Columbia refused to allow these meetings to be available to zoom observers, so we needed to move forward with a compromise where these meetings occur off-campus in rooms large enough to allow in-person observation by rank-and-file membership.

7. Counter-proposals: Columbia and SWC discuss the demands in meetings, and then exchange counter-proposals based on these discussions and the previous proposal. SWC uses GBMs, ad-hoc polls, working group advice, and the best judgement of the democratically elected bargaining committee to determine appropriate counter-proposals.

8. How do we deal with delays or standstills at the bargaining table?

   • Rallies: Rallies are a show of the collective power of the union to encourage Columbia to negotiate in good-faith to avoid a strike. The effectiveness of rallies is proportional to the number of students who attend, so it is important for all available student workers to participate. Please join these demonstrations and encourage your friends and colleagues to join.

   • Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) complaints: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reviews complaints about bad-faith bargaining and unfair practices. Columbia and SWC have both filed ULPs against the other in this contract campaign.

   • Calling for a strike (see sections below)

9. Tentative agreements: These are articles that Columbia and the SWC have come to an agrement on at the table. Sometimes SWC will decide to withdraw an article for the sake of bargaining a better outcome for other articles.

10. Once Columbia and SWC have come to a tentative agreement on all articles, the contract will go to a general body vote for approval. No contract will be implemented without a full body vote to approve it.