In America, we expect to have a voice when it comes to our schools, our community, and our country.  The workplace should be no different.

Columbia’s teaching and research assistants want what more than one in five graduate employees nationwide now has – a union.  Why?  In spite of their substantial contributions to the University, they have no say in the decisions that directly affect their working lives.  So they organized, held a union election three years ago (which the University appealed), and have demonstrated time and time again that the majority of them desire a union.  But the University keeps denying them their democratic rights to a voice on the job.  So they finally decided to strike to get recognition.  The week-long strike just ended, but the University has not backed down. 

It’s time to tell Columbia University to respect workers’ rights,  remain neutral in union organizing efforts, and be prohibited from using tuition, tax dollars, or research funds to fight employees from organizing.  

Additional Resources:

• To find out what happens to workers when they try to form unions and how labor law is failing us visit the American Rights at Work website.
  
• Read more about unionbusting.
  
• Learn more about the struggles graduate teaching assistants face when they try to organize by reading the story of David Faris, who has been fighting to form a union (along with 1,000 others) at the University of Pennsylvania for over three years.   Read David’s story here.
  
• Read more about the Graduate Student Employees United who are organizing a union to represent teaching, research, and graduate assistants at Columbia University:
  http://www.2110uaw.org/gseu/index.htm