Caucuses
“Any member of SWC is entitled to start an Official Caucus. Members have the right to caucus and are not required to seek status as an Official Caucus to exercise this right. Union leaders and organizers should protect this right to caucus against attempts to delegitimize caucus campaigns as anti-union.”
- Article 15 section 1 of SWC bylaws
Socialist Teachers and Researchers (STAR) Caucus
The Socialists in Teaching and Research (STAR) is a rank-and-file caucus dedicated to protecting our coworkers, our jobs, and the future of higher education by standing in solidarity with each other. We are student workers with a shared organizing tendency, united to uphold our union’s direct participatory democracy and our tradition of labor militancy. While most American unions concentrate decision-making and organizing with executive leadership and hired organizers, SWC’s hard-won, rank-and-file democratic structure continues to inspire workers across the country. We intend to keep it that way.
Because members are this union’s highest authority, we are strongest when we organize as many members as possible to be actively involved in our union. Caucus members are fighting for the contract demands SWC has democratically agreed to with an overwhelming (80%+) vote. These demands include a living wage, non-citizen protections, cops off campus, academic freedom, Columbia’s compliance with international law, and anti-harassment and discrimination protections. STAR members are working to rapidly implement a strike escalation plan and a forceful bargaining strategy. We believe that bargaining tricks, labor law, and appeals to people in positions of power cannot supersede our true source of leverage: our ability to shut down the University when we stand united as a democratic union.