Our Strike Is Working!
Hi everyone,
Yesterday’s session was one of our most productive yet and speaks to the power of our strike.
We finally received a counter proposal from Columbia on remedial and protective measures for non-discrimination and harassment (NDH). This included a much more thoughtful proposal from the university on transitional (bridge) funding - one which responded to a number of the detailed elements included in our initial proposal, such as assistance in finding alternative letter writers and references, explicit contempt for retaliation, and procedures for wrap-up/hand-off of work. However, true to their usual character, the university chose to backtrack on their previous stance of including transitional funding as an arbitrable article, submitting their modified proposal as a non-arbitrable side letter. Their proposal also only covers the case of unhealthy relationships with advisors rather than the case of general unhealthy situations, and it still requires approval from a university appointee - denying crucial agency to the funding seeker. Nevertheless, this is finally the skeleton of a proposal we can get behind; we look forward to submitting a fleshed out counter proposal which fully addresses the needs of student workers. The university’s proposal also included a detailed list of remedial measures currently offered by the Office of EOAA in the NDH article. Lastly, they modified the efficacy review of the NDH article with the Union to take place 12 months following the ratification of this agreement, instead of the previously stated 18 months.
Following a discussion on the timeline of transitional funding, as well as the role and implementation of transition coordinators, Dean Kachani reiterated the university’s commitment to address arbitration for NDH "in some form" in the context of mediation, and that it would be confirmed in an email to follow. This did show up, in somewhat unconvincing terms, in Provost Mary Boyce’s evening communication: “we have committed to discuss our ideas when we have a mediator in place.”
Before the deans left, we were able to spend time on health benefits, which has been largely overlooked by the university up until this point. We heard a powerful testimonial by a student worker who is in desperate need of dental coverage —something which would be achieved by our benefits proposal! We followed up dental care with a conversation about the expansion of the health fund and protections from governmental agencies for student workers, topics important to our unit that the university has heretofore mostly ignored.We ended with a plan to return to the bargaining table on Friday where we will present an NDH counter proposal.
Yesterday’s session shows us the power of our strike. Bernie Plum has repeatedly said they would not move an inch unless we agreed to mediation, yet one week into our strike, the university—deans and all—came and presented a counter proposal. While Columbia is still light years away from meeting the fundamental needs of our unit, we are seeing the pressure of our strike in action.
We’ll see you back at the bargaining table tomorrow at 3:30pm, and in the meantime we’ll see you on the picket line! Click here to join bargaining at 3:30pm, and here to join the caucus at 3:00pm, where you will be able to sign-in to receive your strike activity hours.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining committee