Standing in solidarity with striking grad workers at Columbia University, delegates approved a Special Order of Business demanding that Columbia at long last come to the table and bargain in good faith.
The special order was offered by Chris Crowe (pictured above) of the Union of Clerical, Administrative & Technical Staff at New York University. "They may not be in NYSUT, but they are certainly in the same boat as us," Crowe said. "If (Columbia) is allowed to bust the union, that matters."
The resolution notes graduate Research and Teaching Assistants at Columbia voted 1602 to 623 for the Graduate Workers at Columbia-United Auto Workers to represent them as their union in December 2016, but Columbia challenged the vote. In December 2017, the National Labor Relations Board certified the election but Columbia continues to refuse to bargain in good faith.
The special order calls for NYSUT to urge members to join their GWC-UAW brothers and sisters on the picket line and to send a copy of the solidarity resolution to GWC-UAW leadership and Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, demanding that the administration recognize the union and negotiate in good faith.