5/7/25 Bargaining Update
Last Thursday, SWC invited Columbia to bargain this Friday, May 9 at the Central Labor Council, at a neutral location off campus. Despite our bosses’ attempts to shut out our union president and block observers, our decision is a good-faith attempt to restart negotiations over our successor contract.
Will Columbia follow its legal obligations to bargain in good faith? Or will they continue strongarming us into negotiating under conditions that violate labor law?
Yesterday and this morning, Columbia responded that they insist on meeting in Studebaker Building, home of the Labor and Employee Relations office. Meeting on campus is their justification for blocking Grant, who they have assigned the non-legal status of “persona non grata.” They also insist they have no obligation to meet with a specific representative of the Union. Without any explanation, despite our repeated requests, they also argue that the presence of our union president alone makes good faith bargaining “impossible.”
It is not lost on us that Columbia HR is pulling off these brazen attempts at union-busting amid unprecedented attacks on higher education. Columbia administrators have been considering implementing demands put forward by the Trump administration since last summer.
What is union-busting? You may already be familiar with Columbia’s track record of repression, especially after they sent hundreds of riot cops onto campus twice last year. Union-busting is a type of repression, in which they deploy expensive lawyers, propaganda, and other bureaucratic and political tools to disrupt or weaken unions. These are some examples at SWC:
Using the “management rights” article of our contract to justify violating other articles of our contract.
Imposing arbitrary restrictions on who is included in our bargaining unit (ex. Arguing that a union member cannot file a grievance because they are TAing at Barnard)
Refusing to abide by the agreed upon timeline in our contract for responding to a grievance (X days)
Sending a police officer to a General Body Meeting (yes, this happened in 2022)
Insisting that they will only bargain with certain union members and not others
Throughout this contract, Columbia refused to hear grievances regarding accessibility for disabled workers, health and safety, and discrimination and harassment, alleging that the issues we raised were out of scope of our contract. In September, they delayed our pay by nearly one month. This semester, Columbia stood by quietly as our coworkers got kidnapped from university-owned housing, chased out of the country by ICE, and targeted for conducting essential life-saving research.
It should come as no surprise that they refuse to bargain in good faith now. But it is unconscionable that they are doubling down at a time when we are under attack by the Trump administration.
While SWC fights for non-citizen student rights, academic rights, and fair wages and benefits, Columbia is taking advantage of the crisis in higher education to crack down on organizing on campus and steamroll already vulnerable workers. We are prepared to bargain - in good faith. Columbia, are you?