Columbia University Workers Rally for Fair Contract at University Gate

On Tuesday, 500 Columbia University support staff and clerical workers who are members of UAW Local 2110 picketed at the University's gate on Broadway in Manhattan, alongside 250 workers in dining, medical, and library services who are members of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. With both unions currently in contract negotiations, the university has offered an insulting 2 percent raise—an amount so low that when inflation is counted in, it amounts to a pay cut.

“Columbia uses a lot of the same kind of union-busting approach, so we are uniting our forces today,” said Olga Brudastova, president of Local 2110. At the rally, one 1199 member blew a yellow whistle and marched with a sign, “Sorry we couldn’t all be here today… some of us were busy working two jobs to make ends meet!” Another’s sign said, “The second largest landowner in NYC does not pay us enough to pay our rent.”

Union members also distributed a flier pointing out Columbia Executive Vice-President of Arts and Sciences Amy Hungerford’s compensation: $894,126 a year, 18 times the average dining worker pay and 24 times the pay of student workers in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, where she’s a professor. Read more from Labor Notes!