After 10 weeks of striking, the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers voted to ratify a nationally significant contract with the University. Following a 15-day discussion period and a six-day voting period, the contract was supported by 97.6 percent of voting members of the SWC-UAW. The union has been fighting for this contract since 2014, when attempts at unionization first began.
“A four-year contract duration … is really important for organizing, because we will have institutional memory and also an opportunity to strike again at the end of the contract duration if we have to,” said Joanna Lee, a third-year doctoral student in the department of East Asian languages and cultures.
After a 10-week strike and years of organizing, 97.6% of SWC-UAW members vote to ratify historic contract
