Successful vote is latest victory in growing grad worker union movement Los Angeles, CA – By a 93% margin, graduate workers at the University of Southern California have voted 1,599 to 122 in favor of joining the Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee-United Auto Workers (GSWOC-UAW), according to ballots tallied today by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The victory caps a multi-year effort, with workers standing strong against USC administrators’ anti-union campaign. GSWOC-UAW will represent 3,000 Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants and Assistant Lecturers at USC. “We are so energized by this resounding vote in favor of our union,” said Stepp ...
Read more
Sixteen months after graduate workers won a federally-certified union election, Columbia’s refusal to bargain sends workers to the picket lines New York City – After an overwhelming 93% strike authorization vote earlier this month, and after offering the university the choice to avoid a strike by coming to the bargaining table, Columbia graduate workers are on strike. Instead of teaching, grading papers and performing research during the last week of classes, Teaching and Research Assistants across campus are walking picket lines. Picket times and locations are as listed, and press is welcome. Tuesday 4/24: 10am to 3pm (Low) Wednesday 4/25: ...
Read more
Columbia Workers Set Strike Deadline of April 24 If Columbia administrators do not agree to bargain by 10 am on April 24, graduate workers across the campus will immediately go on strike New York City – After an overwhelming 93% strike authorization vote last week, Columbia grad workers have set a strike deadline. In a letter to President Lee Bollinger, workers demanded that the university declare its intention to begin bargaining by 10 am on April 24. If the university continues to defy both labor law and the democratic voice of its workers, and does not agree to bargain by that deadline, graduate workers will ...
Read more
Senator Bernie Sanders sent letters to the presidents of Harvard, Columbia and Boston College today as graduate workers rallied across the country: “To my mind, it would be a huge mistake to attempt to roll back these workers’ right to organize.” Boston, MA – Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent letters to the presidents of three major universities today asking them to “support the legal rights of research and teaching assistants to form unions and bargain in good faith with them.” Graduate workers across the country rallied today to protest managers at these universities and others who have embraced the Trump ...
Read more
Columbia Graduate Workers Call on Administration to Respect Democratic Vote and Join Efforts to Strengthen University NEW YORK – Columbia University research assistants and teaching assistants – whose landmark case restored union rights for graduate workers nationwide – are calling on university administrators to join them at the table and begin their important work to bargain a strong contract that prioritizes a fair, safe and respectful working environment. Today, the National Labor Relations Board’s Brooklyn office upheld graduate workers’ election in December to choose Graduate Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers (GWC-UAW) as their union. In her ruling, Hearing Officer ...
Read more
Community Petition Urging University Administrators to End Their Anti-Union Campaign Gains Momentum NEW YORK – As support for graduate workers’ right to collective bargaining builds nationwide, more than 60 members of Congress today issued a statement urging Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and other university administrators in support of fair and free union elections. U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott and Jerrold Nadler along with dozens of other congressional leaders applauded the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to restore the rights of teaching assistants and research assistants to bargain collectively. “Collective bargaining between university administrators and the representatives chosen by TAs ...
Read more
Graduate workers, who have been organizing for the past year, welcome recognition of needed changes from the Provost, Dean of Engineering NEW YORK – In a rare email to Ph.D. candidates, Columbia University Provost John H. Coatsworth announced a number of changes to improve workplace benefits for many graduate workers. The announcement – which includes parental leave, childcare subsidies and changes in fees – comes as graduate workers have been joining together to fight for respect and their rights as Graduate Workers of Columbia-UAW (GWC-UAW). The announcement answers calls for change the group has been raising and builds on previous ...
Read more