GBM Today! Mediation Begins; Hardship Fund Round 2.

Hi everyone,

Today we had our first caucus with mediator Kevin Flanigan. He came prepared with specific questions about our history, our current demands, and our vision for moving forward. We told Kevin about Columbia’s long history of regressive bargaining: from reneging on their commitment in the Bargaining Framework to recognize our NLRB-certified unit; to regressing on their offer of a neutral third-party arbitration process for discrimination and harassment cases; to unilaterally eliminating a higher-quality student-worker healthcare plan. We answered Kevin’s questions on non-discrimination and harassment, recognition, compensation and cost of living, healthcare, childcare, and union dues. And, when Kevin asked where we might have room to make concessions, we told him: when we entered mediation, we did so upon the expectation that Columbia had major proposals to share with us, and that we believe we can reach an agreement with Columbia that satisfies all of our demands. Kevin had a session planned with the University following ours, and we made it clear that we hope to see supposals that were promised (specifically on third-party arbitration!) very soon.

As a reminder, Round 2 for the Hardship Fund remains open through Friday, November 26th. You can apply here. Funds will be disbursed as quickly as possible, before December 1st.

We hope to see you at the GBM tonight at 5pm (zoom link)! We will be conducting a poll on preferences regarding virtual vs. hybrid bargaining and discussing guidelines for hybrid bargaining if we do consider introducing an in-person component following Thanksgiving break.

In solidarity,

Your bargaining committee