Oct. 6: We marched on Columbia’s HR to deliver our demands. It pushed them to offer the biggest raises yet.

Summary

As a gesture of good will, SWC members voted to forego our established practice of allowing union members to observe on Zoom to accommodate the university’s intransigence. In response, Columbia HR began to attempt to restrict in-person observation, to which they had previously agreed. 

When we learned that the university’s team again refused to bargain at scheduled times and with agreed-upon terms, we marched to deliver our contract articles and demands in person. Our action scared the university into announcing the biggest raise to our unit yet on the same day. In previous communication, the university had insisted on only a 2% raise. 

Holding the line and insisting on our rights got us a bigger raise. Imagine how much more we can win as we continue to fight!

Recap of the summer

Over the summer, SWC attempted to meet with Columbia repeatedly. While members of our bargaining committee and unit were away from campus (many for research or work external to Columbia for those on 9 month appointments), Columbia refused to meet online in any form.

Instead, they sent us a contract extension with a compensation raise for our coworkers on 9-month appointments (as long as they were within the first five years of their program) and an insignificant increase for those on 12-month appointments. Accounting for inflation, that effectively amounted to a pay freeze for the first group, and a salary cut for the second group. When we sent a counter-offer addressing some of these inadequacies, they refused to respond to it. Throughout the summer, the administration worked secretly to remove almost all graduate Instructors of Record positions. The predictable result has been larger class sizes, cancelled classes, and a lower quality of education for undergraduate and graduate students. 

As a gesture of good will, SWC deliberated internally and reached the decision to meet without online observers, a departure from our shared precedent. Columbia has repeatedly agreed in writing to in-person observation of bargaining. At the only bargaining meeting which Columbia’s team attended in March, 250 of our members showed up to observe. 

Our rank-and-file members deserve to participate in the fight for bettering the university and their own working conditions. 

What led up to this session

When scheduling this session, the Bargaining Committee identified multiple suitable meeting spaces within The Interchurch Center with accommodations for online caucuses and an adequate number of observers. The parties agreed to meet at 11am on Monday, October 6. At the last minute, Columbia informed SWC’s bargaining team that they had booked a room with 20 seats, claiming the larger spaces were “not available.”  The room Columbia insisted on would not fit both negotiation teams, much less member observers.

Seeking to ensure that the meeting could go ahead under the agreed-upon conditions, SWC members reached out to the local community to find an appropriate space. The Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan graciously offered their chapel for negotiations. Columbia refused to meet at this location and implied that they were in longer interested in the scheduled bargaining session. They wrote to invite the BC to a “non-bargaining meeting” without room to accommodate observers. While SWC has made ample effort to come to the table, Columbia is moving back from their previously held agreements on in-person observers.

On October 6, the agreed-upon meeting date…

As planned, SWC members began a hybrid caucus at Trinity Lutheran Church at 10am. At 11 am, the agreed-upon meeting time, the university’s team still had not shown up. Our Bargaining Committee members called a university representative to discuss their refusal to meet us, but they neglected to answer. 

When Columbia followed up with an email saying they were still in Interchurch, we decided to march on management and deliver the contract articles we planned to pass at the table by hand.

As we handed them our articles, we noticed that the large Interchurch space which we requested and would accommodate all our observers was open and empty. Why did the university lie, saying that they would be “not available”? What else are they trying to hide?

On the evening of October 6, Columbia sent out an all-campus email misrepresenting the facts of the day, while also offering a 3% raise. While this is still woefully inadequate for NYC’s skyrocketing cost of living, it is the largest wage increase the university has offered so far. It shows that management knows its position of weakness. 

SWC is prepared to bargain with the University. We have requested that they send us times when they are available, and when appropriate spaces in Interchurch are free. We look forward to meeting them to discuss the articles we delivered on 10/6.

Holding the line and insisting on our rights got us a 3% raise. Imagine how much more we can win as we continue to fight for each other and the future of higher education. When we fight, we win!