Yes, Columbia University has the resources to meet graduate workers’ needs
The struggle of 3,000 Columbia University graduate student-workers for decent pay, health care, child care and other benefits is at a critical turning point. Over the course of this week, negotiators from the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC) union and Columbia management are meeting with a federal negotiator, commonly known as “third-party mediation.” The GWC bargaining committee agreed to third-party mediation in exchange for a strike “pause” last week in direct opposition to the will of the rank-and-file members.
The importance of the struggle at Columbia is underscored by the recent 96 percent vote in favor of strike authorization by over 2,000 graduate workers at New York University (NYU). The Columbia and NYU graduate workers are members of the same amalgamated local of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which is seeking to divide and isolate these struggles and push through concessionary