2021–2022 Columbia University strike
However, additional strike action commenced on November 3 and lasted until January 7, 2022, when a tentative agreement with the university was reached.
Picketing and other forms of protest were held at numerous Columbia locations throughout New York City, and multiple elected officials and politicians announced their support for the strikers.
Following the end of the strike, on July 3, new leaders for the union were elected who promised to continue to push for a labor contract with the university.
In a 2018 article, The New York Times stated that "[t]he question of whether graduate students at private universities can unionize has seesawed for years, depending, in part, on the political leanings of the members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
[4] In 2016, the board would again reverse its decision in a case involving a unionization effort at Columbia University in New York City.
[13] On February 25, with no agreement in place after 64 bargaining sessions,[14] union members gathered on the steps of the Low Memorial Library and announced their intent to begin striking on March 15.
[15][11] At the time of the announcement, an article in the Columbia Daily Spectator stated that "[a]bout 10 demands" were still being discussed, with full union recognition being chief among them.
[15] On March 8, interim provost Ira Katznelson sent an open letter addressing the strike notice, claiming that, while both sides were working towards an agreement, the union's demands for wage increases were "neither reasonable nor responsible in present circumstances".
[21] Additionally, the Spectator reported that numerous undergraduate students were in support of the strike, including the president of the Class of 2024.
[22] On March 18, union and university representatives met over Zoom for a bargaining session, during which the Spectator reported, "tensions were higher than usual".
[28] Later that day, the bargaining unit for the GWC–UAW voted 7–3 to accept an offer by the university to have outside mediation in exchange for a pause on strike action.
[30] That same day, following a vote organized by the local YDSA chapter, students at Columbia ended their tuition strike.
[30][31] Despite the bargaining unit's decision, GWC–UAW members in the university's religion department stated they would continue to strike until the union's demands are met.
Union members were opposed to certain agreements that were absent in the contract, such as third-party arbitration, a living wage, complete recognition of the bargaining unit, and full dental coverage.
This new bargaining committee promised to promote a "more democratic" union as they planned to continue to push for a labor contract during the upcoming fall semester.
[43] Around the same time, the bargaining committee announced additional demands for the university for increased childcare coverage, no-questions-asked funding for adviser transfers, and a banning of New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) presence from Columbia's campus.
[44] The last demand regarding NYPD and ICE was modeled after a similar agreement that NYU had recently reached with their graduate students' union.
[44] On October 20, the SWC announced that, barring constructive negotiations between the union and university administration, a new strike action would begin on November 3.
[44] After several speeches from the steps, some of the protestors marched to Schermerhorn Hall to interrupt a class being held by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, with chants of "fuck you, PrezBo" and "no contract, no work".
[47] On November 10, Columbia University Provost Mary Cunningham Boyce stated that the university was willing to engage in negotiations to resolve the labor dispute and reiterated her support for mediation, though the union rejected the offer, stating that they believed it was too early in the strike to call on mediatory services.
[48] This decision was due in part to the use of mediation in the previous strike action, in which the union members voted down the proposal that had been drafted with mediatory help.
[52] Kevin Flanigan, an arbitrator from the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, was selected to serve as the mediator between the union and university.
[56] On December 10, the university announced changes to the class credit policy to help undergraduate students who had been affected by the strike.
[58] In a letter to the editor published the next day in The Wall Street Journal, Provost Boyce stated that the proposal "is one of the most generous available at any U.S.
[45] On January 7, 2022, the SWC announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with the university,[45] with 93.5 percent of the union members voting to end the strike at noon that day.
[45] Speaking about the agreement, Provost Boyce stated that she was optimistic that the Spring 2022 semester (scheduled to start on January 18) would operate normally and without labor disruptions.
