4/24 Bargaining Blog Update
The Bargaining Committee has several important updates about the status of contract negotiations with Columbia University. The most significant update is that Columbia is now barring our union president Grant Miner from negotiations. After firing and expelling our union president Grant Miner the day before our first bargaining session, and now barring him from negotiations entirely, it is clear the University is taking aggressive action to obstruct the Union’s legally protected right to choose our own union representatives.
We also have updates on the status of discussions with the University on ground rules and open bargaining, as well as contract articles presented to us by the University via email and SWC contract proposals delivered to the University. We have recently launched our Bargaining Proposal Tracker, where we will be updating contract proposals from the University and from SWC as the bargaining process continues.
Barring Union President Grant Miner from Negotiations
A university representative wrote to Grant on Monday morning denying him access to our upcoming bargaining session (Friday 4/25 @ 2 p.m.) on the basis that his firing and expulsion renders him a “persona non grata” for the University’s purposes.
The right to bargain collectively through representatives of our own choosing is ours alone – and one protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. The University has no right to set arbitrary restrictions on who is or is not a union representative. Let us be clear – all SWC members are essential members of our bargaining team. That includes our current union president — who is elected to a three-year term and remains in office.
Status of Discussions on Open Bargaining
Over the past several weeks, we have continued to communicate to the University our willingness to come to the bargaining table and that we do not accept the various attempts by Columbia to close negotiations. In response to the University’s stated concerns regarding the security of Zoom observers and potential recording, we drafted a set of comprehensive Ground Rules we sent via email on 4/7. A comprehensive timeline of discussions on this topic can be seen here and the text of our proposed Ground Rules can be seen here.
This could have been a venue through which to engage in productive discussions on mutually agreeable terms for negotiation—terms that could address shared concerns around privacy from the general public and transparency among rank-and-file student workers—but the University has refused to respond. Instead, they have unilaterally shifted their stance on in-person observers. On 4/1, they attempted to close negotiations from observers entirely. Last week, the University imposed an arbitrary limit of 20 observers on the 4/25 session and demanded we provide a list in advance of 20 observers, or else they would attempt to bar any workers from observing negotiations.
In General Body Meetings and Workplace Council meetings over the past month, rank-and-file membership have continued to demonstrate their support for open bargaining and Zoom access to ensure everyone in our unit—including international workers who have left campus for safety concerns, and immunocompromised workers wanting to avoid large in person gatherings—can participate in bargaining. Hundreds of rank-and-file members have already signed onto a petition committing that they will not approve a Collective Bargaining Agreement without fully open and transparent bargaining.
If you haven’t already, sign the petition to demand open bargaining and share with your coworkers. We need your signatures to show the University that our membership will NOT ratify any contract negotiated behind closed doors. Our bargaining strength comes from open bargaining and from having you in the room with us!
Status of Contract Article Proposals
On 4/14, the University delivered two draft articles to the Bargaining Committee via email, one on Grievance and Arbitration and the other on Holidays. The text of both can be seen on our Bargaining Tracker. These proposals have been, and will continue to be discussed at the appropriate working group meetings as well as our broader General Body Meetings.
SWC continues to be prepared to bargain with the University and has finalized contract articles on Health & Safety. Articles on Non-Citizen Student Workers and Academic Freedom are in their final rounds of revisions. We are eager to discuss them when the university is ready to bargain in good faith.
Our bosses might be used to enthusiastically collaborating with their own bullies – even earning the praise of Trump’s Secretary of Education and former professional wrestling promoter Linda McMahon. But SWC will not be intimidated. We stand firm in our commitment to open bargaining, to enforcing our rights, and to securing a strong contract that protects non-citizen student workers and academic freedom.
Solidarity Forever,
The Bargaining Committee