Spurred on by SWC-UAW contract, student workers nationwide pursue greater workplace protections

Upper West Side NY

26 February, 2022

2:54 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY TALIA TRASKOS-HART FEBRUARY 23, 2022 When the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers voted to ratify a contract nearly a month ago, it gained new rights and benefits that surpassed the protections offered by many colleges and universities. The union's victories have spurred student-worker unions across the nation to fight for similar goals. Among other measures, the SWC-UAW's contract includes an increase in the minimum wage from $15 to $21 and a $300,000 health fund for student employees. In all, the contract's provisions come to $100 million over its four-year duration. Notably, the SWC-UAW contract includes the right to neutral, third-party arbitration in cases of Title IX, discrimination, and harassment. This unprecedented provision allows survivors to seek legal recourse outside of University processes. These union wins were brought about by a 10-week strike, at one point the largest labor strike in the country, which led to widespread course cancellations and disruptions of community events as over 3,000 student workers picketed on College Walk. Undergraduates saw many of their courses drastically change, if not grind to a halt. Many students will need to make up work, some of which is required to graduate, over this semester or during the summer. At Kenyon College, a small liberal arts school in Gambier, Ohio, the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee has been inspired by the SWC-UAW's wins as it fights for recognition of its student worker union. Molly Orr, a K-SWOC member, noted that union leaders have looked to other student worker unions for strategizing, and that union leaders "followed the Columbia strike." "10 weeks is incredible," she said. "We're definitely inspired by and responding to other labor movements on different campuses." Abigail Manville, a member of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee at New York University, said she thinks the length of Columbia's strike was impressive, and that GSOC members fought alongside the SWC-UAW throughout the strike. "I don't think people really realize how astounding the sheer amount of organizing and time and passion that has to go into holding a strike for 10 weeks," she said. "Every day there was someone from GSOC there, if not many someones." Manville cited the health care provisions in the SWC-UAW contract, which included 75 percent dental coverage for doctoral students and their dependents, as particularly important to the NYU union, given the high cost of living in New York City. "The reality is, tuition is high, rent is high. And the unique thing about graduate student workers is our landlords are also the people signing our checks," she said. "So you have to look beyond the minimum wage that you want and start thinking about all the extras that start eating away at the paycheck, and that you can help people survive in such an expensive city." Orr said Kenyon student workers were particularly struck by the SWC-UAW's victory of a $21 minimum wage. Currently, the highest possible wage for Kenyon student workers is $11.94. Amir Fleischmann, a member of the Graduate Employees' Organization at the University of Michigan, said the desire for a higher minimum wage has reached Michigan student workers, too. "We've been looking at the strike at Columbia as a very positive thing, especially around the issue of wages which is a huge problem for us," he said. "For us, living in Ann Arbor … our members find themselves squeezed between a skyrocketing cost of living and paltry wages." In addition to economic benefits, the recognition of hourly and undergraduate workers as union members—the final provision won by the SWC-UAW, which involved an additional week of striking after the University made its "final offer"—has influenced union strategy at Kenyon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We were glad to see undergrads included so specifically in the unit as well," Orr said, noting Kenyon's entirely undergraduate union. At MIT, union members are fighting for recognition of over 1,000 fellows who administrators hope to exclude from the bargaining unit, union member Belinda Zou Li said. "Fellows do very similar work to [research assistants and teaching assistants]," she said. "We're here trying to affirm our position to include fellows." The unprecedented right to arbitration in cases of Title IX, discrimination, and harassment gained by the SWC-UAW has also galvanized union support around new rights to legal recourse. "Columbia bringing [arbitration] up as such a central issue has made us think more carefully about how we could approach that," said Orr. "We're definitely having conversations about it that have been inspired by seeing Columbia get neutral arbitration in the contract." Fleischmann explained that, particularly given recent scandals involving harassment and misconduct by the provost and president of the University of Michigan, union members are considering pushing for an arbitration provision similar to the one won by the SWC-UAW. "It's pretty clear that the policy the university has right now does not work at all," he said. "So trying to find a new and better policy … is a huge priority for us." Orr noted that the success of the SWC-UAW has changed discussions about what is possible for Kenyon's union. "To see the strike work the way it did has definitely given us a lot to think about," she said. Staff writer Talia Traskos-Hart can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @taliakth. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.