Join us in urging Columbia to give workplace rights to all workers, including protections against late pay, discrimination and harassment. We are a group of Columbia/Barnard community members, including alums, workers, worker allies, parents, undergraduates, faculty, and community leaders, speaking out against Columbia’s refusal to grant workplace protections to all student workers. Columbia is cu
rrently denying hourly TAs and research assistants protection against late pay, immigration and visa issues, unjust termination, unsafe workplaces, discrimination, harassment, abuse, and exploitation—despite the fact that they have agreed to give these protections to salaried workers with the same jobs. What Columbia is trying to do with so-called “casual” hourly workers is part of a broader trend of creating tiers of more vulnerable workers who are easier to exploit. We call on Columbia to respect NLRB certification language and recognize hourly student workers as part of the Student Workers of Columbia, so that they have access to neutral, third-party arbitration and other necessary workplace protections.
