This Tuesday, March 10, The Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) voted to strike should Columbia University not meet their demands.

On March 10, UAW Local 2710, the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) authorized a strike on all student teaching and research labor at Columbia, according to a press release on March 11. The result was 91.5% approval, with 1129 votes in favor and 105 against, with over 75% of its total membership participating in the vote. 

The SWC is a union that represents graduate and undergraduate students who work as teachers and researchers. Their most recent strike was in the fall of 2021.

The union aims to obtain from Columbia “protections against ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], pay that matches cost-of-living, expanded healthcare benefits, commitments to academic freedom, divestment from companies that violate international law, and more.” The SWC’s full list of public demands also includes adjustments to working conditions and protections against artificial intelligence. The union intends to go on strike if Columbia does not agree to their stipulations. 

SWC members are to meet over the next few days to solidify a deadline for the strike, “which could be as soon as next week.” The first contract between SWC and Columbia, ratified in January 2022, ended on June 30, 2025. Negotiations have been ongoing since March 28, 2025, with the SWC accusing Columbia of “making zero substantive concessions despite on-campus consensus that the University is in a state of emergency,” mentioning  NYPD presence at campus protests and participating students facing suspension, expulsion, and degree revocation, including the then-president of the SWC.

A major concern of the union is the welfare of students who may be targeted by ICE. The SWC alleges that Columbia has failed to protect students without citizenship status, citing former member Mahmoud Khalil (SIPA ’24), who was detained by ICE last year, and “[a]t least one member of the SWC” who “has been forced to flee” the US. The union says some workers fear Columbia will assist the federal government in arresting or deporting them.

Further, the union claims that Columbia refused to follow suit when other universities challenged President Donald Trump in cutting their funding, instead reaching an agreement with the Trump administration. They also allege that the Columbia administration has cut “nearly every” job of graduate instructors and pays students workers 61% of cost-of-living, compared to other Ivy League universities such as Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale that cover 95-100% of cost-of-living expenses in compensation.

To emphasize their need for a strike, the SWC specifically points to Executive Vice President Amy Hungerford as receiving “nearly a million dollars in compensation” despite the union’s current demands. They also make reference to Vice President of Human Resources Daniel Driscoll stating that Columbia has “done a fantastic job” supporting international students, according to SWC bargaining notes from January 23, 2026, a little over a month before ICE’s detention of student Ellie Aghayeva (GS ’26). “A strike may be the only option unless Columbia concedes on the Union’s demands,” concludes the SWC.

Update on March 13, 2:19 pm:

In correspondence with Bwog, a Columbia official emphasized that a strike has not been called at present and this vote does not guarantee that the union will definitely strike. Strike authorization votes are “not the same as a vote to strike,” the official stressed. The SWC press release states that “[s]trike authorization votes, or SAVs, are clear statements of intent to go on strike if Columbia does not agree to the union’s demands.”

“It is disappointing to see SWC already moving toward a strike after only a limited number of bargaining sessions over the past year,” said a spokesperson for Columbia University in a statement to Bwog. “Both sides have agreed to future bargaining sessions, and we are hopeful that SWC will refocus its efforts on making progress at the bargaining table. We had hoped for a constructive negotiation process – like we have had in reaching seven contracts with other unions at the University in the past year. Columbia put forward a full set of contract proposals last spring, while SWC[ ]refused to engage and let its contract expire over the summer. Our goal remains to reach a fair, competitive, and sustainable agreement on the terms and conditions under which our student employees work.”

The official confirmed that the university does not foresee this vote will result in anything disruptive to regular academic schedules or responsibilities. They also affirmed the University’s commitment to continuing operations in the event of an SWC strike and the existence of precautionary measures to prevent disruption, with more details of those plans to be shared if necessary.

According to the SWC’s Bargaining Blog, the union and University have only met eight times since March 2025 and are yet to reach any tentatively agreed articles prior to the SWC’s vote to authorize a strike. In comparison, the union met with Columbia over 70 times before striking in 2021. A post on the union’s blog accused Columbia of having “sabotaged” bargaining meetings during the summer of 2025. The SWC and the University then clashed over the location of an October 2025 meeting that resulted in Columbia making major concessions; both sides claimed the other did not appear on time at the agreed-upon place.

Previous strikes were authorized in votes of 1804 to 234 in 2021 and 1833 to 77 in 2020, representing a higher turnout compared to the most recent vote. However, as stated above, the union’s press release claims a large number of graduate student worker jobs have been recently cut, which could theoretically have implications on membership numbers.

According to the same SWC bargaining meeting notes mentioned above, the Columbia administration finds many of the SWC’s demands to be unrelated to employment, instead pertaining to student or institutional matters. These would therefore be considered permissive, not mandatory, for the University to negotiate under the current Framework Agreement. 

Though the union has made clear its intention to strike if they feel Columbia is not meeting their demands, a strike is not yet active or confirmed.

SWC via Bwarchives