Alum tell Columbia to Agree to Fair Contracts

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Alum tell Columbia to Agree to Fair Contracts

President Lee Bollinger and the Trustees of Columbia University

Fellow Columbia alums:

Please join us in urging the Columbia administration to reach agreement this spring with the 5,000 graduate workers and postdoctoral researchers negotiating their first union contracts with the university. Their work plays a critical role in continuing to advance Columbia’s reputation as a world leader in research and teaching.

After many years of ignoring wide majority support from workers, as well as broad community and alum support, the university agreed more than one year ago to bargain with both unions in exchange for agreement by the workers not to strike prior to April 6, 2020. After more than a year of negotiations, we believe the administration can and must do everything possible to reach fair agreements with both unions by that date and avoid a return to the disruptive conflict of years past. We urge you to sign our petition, read the petition and more about their fight below.

Rudi Batzell, Columbia College 2009
Eric Chenoweth, Columbia College 1985
Mark Erlich, Columbia College 1970
Jared Odessky, Columbia College 2015
Amy Traub, GSAS 2002
Jennifer Vandever, School of the Arts 1996

Sponsored by

GWC-UAW Local 2110 - Graduate Workers of Columbia University

New York, NY

To: President Lee Bollinger and the Trustees of Columbia University
From: [Your Name]

As Columbia alums, we urge your administration to reach fair agreements promptly this spring with the 5,000 graduate workers and postdoctoral researchers negotiating their first union contracts after over a year of negotiations. Reaching fair agreements in a timely manner will fulfill the university’s original commitment to bargain in good faith and strengthen the integrity and legacy that drives our ongoing commitment to our cherished alma mater.

Graduate workers and postdoctoral researchers are the core workforce driving Columbia’s world-renowned teaching and research programs. Competitive pay and benefits will only enhance Columbia’s ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest and will enable them to focus on quality work rather than how to survive in the most expensive city in the United States. Fair workplace rights will also help make Columbia a world leader on equity and inclusion, just as it is a world leader in scholarly and scientific innovation, embracing the core principles of our institution.

We expect and strongly urge you to honor those core principles. Embracing these principles in the curriculum while violating them in practice undermines the integrity of Columbia as an institution and will certainly challenge the long-standing loyalty of many alums. For the sake of our shared values, we urge you to reach fair agreements promptly.