Frequently Asked Questions

About our Union

  • As student workers, we do a large amount of the teaching, grading, grant-winning research, and administrative work at Columbia. Having a union puts us on an equal footing with Columbia when it comes to advocating for our terms and conditions of employment. As a union, we can ensure livable wages, adequate benefits, clear workload expectations, and consistent and transparent employment policies through collective bargaining and enforce the terms of our contract through grievance processes. By doing so, we can enhance our conditions and our research and teaching work – and ultimately make Columbia a better environment for everyone.

  • Our contract went into effect on Jan 28, 2022 and is retroactively effective through the beginning of the academic year 2021-2022. We will now work to ensure that our contract is effectively enforced and that Columbia respects the rights that we negotiated in our contract by working with members to address any workplace issues or contract violations. We will also be taking steps to establish our new local, Student Workers of Columbia - UAW Local 2710.

    There are many opportunities to contribute to building our new union. If you would like to get involved, make sure to sign a card to be automatically added to our email list, email info@studentworkersofcolumbia.com.

  • Although student workers have been organizing on Columbia’s campus for over two decades, the fight for our first contract truly began in 2014, when we held our card drive and went public with our union, launching our fight for recognition from Columbia. In 2017, a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board gave us the right to unionize, setting a significant precedent for graduate student unions at all private universities. Because Columbia refused to respect this ruling and recognize our union, in spring 2018 we went on a week-long strike for recognition. Columbia finally recognized us in the fall of that year. Bargaining for our first contract began in February 2019. Our strikes in the spring and fall of 2021 won us our first contract, which was ratified in January 2022 by 97.6%, with 2150 members participating in the vote. For a more in-depth look, see our History.

  • United Auto Workers (UAW) is a democratic organization representing more than 65,000 academic workers across the United States, including more graduate student employees and postdocs than any other union. In the last four years alone, nearly 10,000 academic workers in the New York City area have chosen to become part of the UAW. Partnering with a national union gives us access to more expertise and resources, and allows us to build collective power with academic workers here in New York City, where graduate student unions at NYU and The New School are UAW-affiliated, and across the country.

Becoming a member

  • You can become a member of our union by signing a card at www.studentworkersofcolumbia.com/sign-a-membership-card.

    While you may have signed a support card in the past, to become a full member you need to sign this card, which became available as of February 11, 2022. If you have not signed our new membership card, you are not a member of the Union.

  • Majority membership will make a huge difference in the power we are able to exert on Columbia when it comes to enforcing our contract and demanding they uphold our hard-won protections. We have already seen how far Columbia is willing to go to weaken the power of our union, and how little they care about paying students on time and in the right amount, and about upholding student safety in cases of harassment and discrimination. A strong union with an active membership, supported in this work by membership dues can stand up to the administration. Majority participation will also keep the tradition and expertise we have gained from years of organizing alive until it's time to fight for our next contract.

    Only members can participate in the democratic processes which shape our union, determine what organizing projects we take on and how dues are spent, and elect leaders to represent us and serve as stewards and in other leadership roles. To ensure that we build a truly democratic union in which all perspectives are heard and represented, we need full participation.

  • To be eligible for full membership in SWC, a student must fulfill one of the following conditions:
    1) Be currently employed in a bargaining unit position; or
    2) Have been employed in a bargaining unit position in the past; or
    3) Be enrolled in an academic program that requires the student to work in a bargaining unit position in the future, or else be able to demonstrate concrete plans for working in the future as a part of that program.

  • Yes. Visa holders have the same legal right to participate. International student workers around the country and at Columbia have formed unions because of the many unique challenges that international workers face. Our union also provides international workers who can’t vote in US elections with another way to have a democratic voice in politics.

  • When a student is employed in a bargaining unit position, membership dues are 1.44% of total gross compensation, or around $27 per paycheck for PhD student workers who hold student officer appointments. Once you sign a card, dues will be automatically deducted from each of your paychecks. Signing your union card authorizes Columbia to make this deduction on behalf of the Union.

    When a student is not employed in a bargaining unit position, membership dues are $5 per month for fully-funded PhD students and $2.50 per month for other students. Students will pay these dues directly to the Union in a manner and on a schedule to be determined soon.

  • Maintaining our union and enforcing our contract would be impossible without the support of membership dues. How our union spends dues will be determined democratically by members of our local. Membership dues support our work in the following areas:

    • Enforcing our contract by advising student workers and supporting them through the grievance process and paying for arbitration costs if a grievance cannot be resolved with the University;

    • Day-to-day operations (for example, paying for a Zoom account and data management software);

    • Hiring a staffer to support us in our organizing;

    • Materials for campaigns we undertake between contract negotiations;

    • Campaigns and negotiations for future contracts, including amounts set aside for our strike fund;

    • Contributions to the UAW International, which go to support the strike funds and contract struggles of other UAW unions around the nation.

    As a new and independent local, we rely entirely on dues from Columbia student workers to support the work of our union. Because our union is legally obligated to represent all employees, regardless of membership, it is vitally important that we all share the cost of representation.

Union membership and participation

  • Full members of our union in good standing (those who have signed a union card and pay dues) can participate in decision-making by attending General Body Meetings and Workplace Council Meetings where we discuss and vote on topics that shape the work our union undertakes and how we move forward. Meetings are announced to membership via our email list and are available on our calendar.

  • SWC structure is composed of the following:

    • Membership Meetings, which all members in good standing are encouraged to attend, constitute our union’s highest decision-making body;

    • The Workplace Council, which is composed of elected Stewards and members in good standing who choose to attend meetings to discuss and vote on the day-to-day activities of our union. It provides a forum for Executive Officers, Stewards, Working Groups and Standing Committees to report back on their work, coordinate their activities, authorize and vote on issues that can be decided outside of a Membership Meeting or a union-wide vote;

    • Standing Committees and Working Groups take the lead on issues and campaigns pertaining to our contract, its enforcement, and other issues we decide to take action on. Elected members are selected at committee elections, but any member in good standing are welcome to participate;

    • The Executive Board consists of the following officers for three-year terms: President, Vice President, Records Secretary, Financial Secretary, Sergeant-at-Arms, Guide, and two Trustees. The Executive Board is elected by the entire union membership;

    • Stewards are among the first points of contact with the Union, particularly for members wishing to file a grievance or report instances of harassment and discrimination. Stewards are elected by the members in their respective districts.

    • Department Organizers and Distric Coordinators build community within departments, inform membership of unit-wide initiatives, and connect members to union resources. Any member can volunteer to become a Department Organizer; District Coordinators are voted in during communittee elections.

  • Reasons to seek the support of the Union and file a grievance include but are not limited to undercompensation, untimely pay, unsafe or hazardous workplace conditions or conditions inadequate to perform assigned duties, and improper suspension or termination of employment.

    You can see an overview of the grievance, appeal, and arbitration process here. You can submit a grievance here.

    Incidents of harassment and discrimination are also cause to seek the support of the union. You can submit an incidence of harassment or discrimination here.

    For a general overview of the grievance process for discrimination and harassment at Columbia, see this flowchart.