Teachers College Student Workers Union

Organizing a union for student workers at Teachers College, Columbia University. RTs ≠ endorsements.

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

“We know that truly meaningful teaching and learning cannot happen when people are afraid.”

It is more important now than ever that we come together to secure much needed protections and improve our working conditions at Teachers College.

Stay tuned for more @TCSWunion updates!

[UAW @UAW]

UAW STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF REV. JESSE JACKSON

The UAW mourns the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, a leader who never wavered in his commitment to working people and the labor movement, and whose bond with the United Auto Workers spanned decades of shared struggle for justice.

In 2023, we had the honor of welcoming Reverend Jackson to UAW Local 551 in Chicago to rally with hundreds of autoworkers during the Stand Up Strike. His leadership and solidarity in that moment reflected a lifetime of commitment to the cause of the working class, and the cause of humanity.

Throughout his life, Reverend Jackson knew exactly which side he was on: that of the working class. He spoke out against the hollowing out of manufacturing in the United States and the damage done to communities when jobs were shipped overseas, calling for fair trade deals that put workers first. He carried that conviction across the globe, traveling to South Africa to investigate the firing of 700 Black workers from a Ford Motor Co. plant in 1979 and helping to lead the international movement to end apartheid. In 2010, he joined UAW President Bob King on a multi-city tour calling for jobs, justice, and peace, a message he embraced across decades of work. He stood with workers in the streets from Detroit to cities nationwide, demanding industrial policies that create jobs, enforce workers’ and civil rights, and put people before profit.

Rev. Jackson’s life’s work grew from roots deep in the intertwined traditions of civil rights, labor organizing, anti-apartheid activism, and the global peace movement — all grounded in the same belief: that dignity, fairness, and opportunity belong to all of humanity.

May we honor him not only in memory, but in action.

[UAW @UAW]

🚨 UAW STATEMENT IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE IN MINNESOTA 🚨

The UAW stands in solidarity with the people of Minnesota, including hundreds of UAW members, who are standing up and fighting back against the federal government’s abuses and attacks on the working class.

The UAW stands for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and human dignity no matter where you were born, what language you speak, or the color of your skin. We will not tolerate a government that attacks working class people’s constitutional and human rights.

It is the working class that makes society run, and it is the working class that can shut it down if need be. On January 23rd, working class people will demonstrate that power in Minnesota, and the UAW has their back.

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

Join us to help win a graduate student worker union at Teachers College!

We will give some important updates, collectively strategize, and make a plan for our next steps this semester.

Light snacks and drinks provided. Follow us and DM with any questions!

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

Thank you, The Blue and White, for this insightful piece.

Bargaining "has shed light, not only on the lengths Columbia will go to in order to suppress the full breadth of demands from the Union, but also on the particular vulnerability of the student-worker identity."

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

"If the University is determined to use the vulnerable double identity of student and worker, so can we. Just as these identities are intertwined, so are their aims…Real collective power at the University requires students and workers to recognize solidarity and build coalition"

[UAW @UAW]

"As Universities Fold to Trump, This Union Is Still Fighting for International Students."

@uawregion6 | @uaw_4811

https://t.co/yXXcGgPQwA

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

“Disciplining union members for protected, concerted activity reveals just how far Columbia University leadership has fallen, prioritizing political submission to the Trump agenda over fair treatment & rights of their own employees.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

@AAUP

[CFU UAW @CfuUaw]

The New York Metro Coalition for Higher Ed is hosting a cross campus meeting for higher ed workers across the New York metro area. And we and @aaup_nyu are hosting! Join us on October 28 and 6:30 in Cantor. RSVP here: https://t.co/1Asckmikwh

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

October 21 is #Columbiagivingday. Instead of picking up the bill for CU’s corruption, donate to the Student Worker Aid Collective, an independent mutual aid fund run by workers.

https://t.co/vrL8NGfxDh

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

It’s #TCAlumniDay and we’ve been busy flyering!

Thank you to all the alumni who showed solidarity with the student workers of Teachers College today as we continue to organize and fight for our right to make a democratic choice about union recognition. Your support matters!

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

"The unfortunate reality is that graduate workers have to defend ourselves not only from Trump, but also from administrators”

“Many graduate student workers are concerned that university administrators will respond to attacks on higher ed by passing the hardship on to workers”

[Public Books @PublicBooks]

In 2016, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate student workers at private universities are employees & therefore eligible to be represented by unions.

In Trump’s second term, that decision is under threat. What paths forward are there?
https://t.co/68U1Vv8wnD

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

📰PRESS RELEASE: Columbia University Begins School Year by Filing an NLRB Charge that Risks Student Workers’ Right to Unionize Nationwide

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

If you’re a student worker at Teachers College and you want a brighter future for us all, sign a card!

https://t.co/nVgotNMRxw

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

“As graduate students in education, health, and psychology, we are deeply disturbed… Columbia forgot education happens in the streets, on the lawn… education is “the practice of freedom”… TCSW is honored to share in this collective struggle with you all, today and everyday.”

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

“The university is meaningless without its students and workers.”

With another academic year approaching it’s as important as ever to fight for the rights of all student workers. Hear why Teachers College student workers say we need a union!

Join us @TCSWunion on this journey.

[Teachers College Student Workers Union @TCSWunion]

“…Columbia had chosen not to draw a line. In this way, this is where labor fills the breach. It has to fill the breach. And this is why labor organizations in higher ed and in every sector are critical to the future of this country, particularly with the rise of fascism.”

[Teen Vogue @TeenVogue]

Students Are Getting Swept Up By ICE. Here’s What Professors Are Doing About It https://t.co/vZ5EUW21IJ

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

The attack on student unions is an attack - in concert with Trump - on the better version of the university we are fighting for.

Thank you @amannmahajan for covering our and @hgsuuaw's contract campaigns against corporate universities.

[Jacobin @jacobin]

A week before classes were set to begin, Columbia University informed around 140 unionized graduate student workers that they had been removed from their teaching duties.

The university is hiring nonunion adjunct instructors to do the work instead. https://t.co/dc3IaKytF4

[Student Workers of Columbia @SW_Columbia]

There is still a chance that some of these jobs can be restored. We call on everyone who cares for the welfare of workers and the future of higher ed: DO NOT SCAB for Columbia. Sign & share our open letter: https://t.co/hm0cOHXkHZ

[Grant @grantdminer]

Our non-tenured colleagues who teach many of these classes are already reporting mandatory class size increases across the board. When you expel the undergrads, don’t train the graduates, and overwork the faculty, who will want to live, work, and study at Columbia?