How do we make decisions in Student Workers of Columbia?
Decision-making in SWC is democratic.
Every member in good standing gets one vote. Elected members, like stewards, the Executive Board, and our Bargaining Committee, have no more power than a rank-and-file member.
Members make big binding decisions in General Body Meetings.
At least twice a semester, SWC is required to hold General Body Meetings (GBMs), also called Membership Meetings. General Body Meetings hold the executive power of our union. 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.
Members make lower-stakes binding decisions in weekly Workplace Councils.
Like GBMs, Workplace Council meetings are open to all members in good standing, and everyone’s vote counts equally. You can find our next Workplace Council on our SWC Google Calendar.
The main difference between Workplace Council and a General Body Meeting is the authority derived from mass attendance. While we want as many members as possible to attend Workplace Council, we know not everyone can attend every meeting. For that reason, we usually have lower attendance at Workplace Council and, accordingly, use those meetings to make lower-stakes decisions that keep the union running, such as authorizing financial expenditures less than $500, scheduling GBMs, or planning weeks of action.
Every SWC member is welcome to attend and vote at Workplace Council. Stewards are required to attend.
Our bargaining committee has no special powers. On-the-fly bargaining decisions are made in member-led caucuses.
The bargaining committee is a special temporary committee that members elect when we submit our intent to bargain with our employer. Unlike at many other unions, our bargaining committee has no special decision-making power.
Like other decisions, big bargaining decisions, such as the decision to approve contract articles, are made democratically at GBMs. However, 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 vote on decisions that instruct the bargaining committee what to do or say.
Caucuses are also scheduled right before bargaining sessions to finalize GBM-approved contract language and make last-minute decisions. Caucus votes always weight every member in good standing equally. Members in elected positions have the same voting power as rank-and-file members – no more, no less.
This is one reason why SWC’s bylaws require open bargaining, meaning bargaining that is accessible to every member in good standing. During bargaining, only the bargaining committee may speak, but every member can watch and listen in order to make informed decisions while caucusing.
Working groups and committees develop expertise to draft contract articles and plan campaigns.
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 “comm comm” — 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.
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 take the matter to Workplace Council or a GBM. For example, the Healthcare Working Group agendized a GBM vote to approve a healthcare contract article.
We have elected and unelected department infrastructure to solicit informal input from our coworkers.
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. Mainly, they are obligated to attend Workplace Council and 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 to convey to Workplace Council.
District coordinators are elected to help oversee department organizers.
A very small number of votes work differently.
General Body Meetings (GBMs) have our union’s highest decision-making powers in most cases. But 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.
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 or Workplace Council.
Read more about these special votes in our bylaws.
