BY HANK REICHMAN
Late last night the largest ongoing strike in the US came to an end as, after ten weeks out, student workers at Columbia University, represented by Student Workers of Columbia, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, reached a tentative agreement with university management. All details are not yet public, but it seems this was a convincing win over an obstreperous employer that sunk to shameful levels to try to intimidate and overpower its own students.
As an AAUP activist, a retired faculty member, and not least of all a Columbia alum (Columbia College ’69) I am, to be honest, completely overjoyed. (My previous posts about this long multi-year struggle can be found in reverse chronological order here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education and Columbia’s own announcement, the four-year agreement, retroactive to August 1, would, if approved, apparently provide an immediate raise of at least $3,000 for all doctoral students, and a 16-percent pay increase over four years for doctoral students on 12-month appointments, a 21 percent increase for those on 9-month appointments, and for those on hourly appointments an immediate increase from a $15/hour base to a $21 base and after four years to $22.50. Stipends would increase by 3 percent each year. Doctoral students and their dependents will be entitled to dental insurance and the university will provide support funds to aid students with out-of-pocket medical expenses. There is also a 125 percent increase in the child care stipend.
In important victories for the union, student workers will be able to pursue harassment and discrimination complaints through neutral third-party arbitrators after investigation by Columbia’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office. Any student worker who performs instructional or research work at Columbia, as defined by a 2017 decision by the National Labor Relations Board, would be recognized as a union member. In the final weeks of the strike these issues had been major sticking points.
Another last-minute sticking point had been back pay for work lost during the strike. That will now be distributed by departments. How that will work and how significant payments will be is unclear, at least to me.
This is a major win not only for graduate (and undergraduate) student worker organizing, but also for all those who work in higher education, including faculty members, tenured, tenure-track, contingent, and part-time. Congratulations to the strikers; I am in awe of your resolution and power. My only regret is that more tenured faculty members, especially at Columbia, should have taken a public stand in support of the strikers, although many did.
Contributing editor Hank Reichman is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay; former AAUP vice-president and president of the AAUP Foundation; and from 2012-2021 Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. His book, The Future of Academic Freedom, based in part on posts to this blog, was published in 2019. His Understanding Academic Freedom has recently been published.
