3/14/25 Bargaining Update
Due to the events of the past week, this update comes to you a bit late. Please note that there is also some information on future events, so still read through!
The conditions at Columbia have gotten more concerning, more scary, and more urgent on a nearly hourly basis over the past few weeks. We write with an update on bargaining, our current work, and our next steps.
Last Friday, March 14th 2025, we were scheduled to have our first bargaining meeting with the university. SWC has always committed to member participation and democratic bargaining, and our union made good on that commitment with over 400 members registered to attend bargaining in person or on Zoom. Then, two hours before our bargaining session, Columbia emailed us to cancel it, giving no reason for their decision.
Columbia’s cancellation capped off a week during which Columbia called riot cops onto campus to arrest its own students, hundreds of our union members found out that their research grants had been cut, ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil in his apartment in Columbia housing, Columbia cooperated with ICE to force Ranjani Srinivasan to leave the country, and Columbia fired our own president, Grant Miner.
While Columbia chose not to show up to bargaining, we still did. Over 200 people in person, and more on Zoom, gathered outside the Studebaker Building for a rally that included speeches from a dozen activists, labor unionists, and student workers from Columbia and New York City. At the rally, we made our demands clear: free Mahmoud, reinstate Ranjani, reinstate Grant, reverse the expulsions, protect international students, ensure funding for our research, and join us at the bargaining table in good faith. And we articulated our clear vision for a better Columbia: a university where a diverse community of scholars can live and work in safety, where free speech is protected, where we have fair working conditions, and where we work together to teach, learn, and research to build a better world.
This week has also brought new challenges. On Friday, we learned that, rather than standing up for its students or its values as an independent educational institution, Columbia capitulated to the Trump administration’s demands — including a mask ban, institutional censorship for the MESAAS department, and arrest powers for Public Safety — going above and beyond to appease the overtly fascist, anti-democratic, and anti-education leanings of the Trump administration.
It is more important than ever to stand up for our rights and use our power as organized workers to improve our workplace. As your Bargaining Committee, we intend to meet Columbia at the bargaining table and use that power to win a fair contract that protects our rights and ensures that Columbia is the type of institution that we need it to be.
We have our next bargaining session on Friday, March 28 2025 at 1pm. We were ready to bargain last week, even though the University wasn’t. We will be ready to bargain again on the 28th, and we need your support and your input. At this bargaining session, we will present our opening goals and ensure that we have open hybrid bargaining so that all of our members have access to this and all future sessions. Please RSVP to attend bargaining, in-person at the Studebaker Building or on Zoom. We need you, our membership, in order to bargain effectively and democratically. Join us and use the opportunity to meet the University at the table.
In the coming weeks, we will fight using every tool we have available, building and using our power as organized student workers to defend our rights against attacks by Columbia and the federal government. We know that this fight will be hard, but we also know that we can win if we fight together. Please feel free to reach out any time to ask questions, raise concerns, or just chat.
In solidarity,
Bargaining Committee