Hundreds Picket on Day 8

by Rebecca Aronauer

Spectator Staff Writer

Columbia Spectator

April 29, 2004

As the Graduate Student Employees United strike entered its eighth day, hundreds of graduate students and supporters rallied on 116th Street yesterday. Fueled by pizza and coffee, union advocates braved the unseasonable cold to hear John Sweeney, the president of the AFL-CIO, and Sonny Hall, the president of the Transport Workers Union, speak in favor of a union vote.

Turnout at the picket line yesterday afternoon was the highest it has ever been. Since the strike began last Monday, dozens of discussion sections, labs, language classes, and Core classes have been canceled. But the University and GSEU have not formally met to discuss GSEU's demand of union recognition. The strike organizers said that teaching assistants and research assistants would consider returning to work if they could vote on unionization or the administration dropped its appeal to the National Labor Relations Board and counted the ballots on unionization from two years ago.

After eight days of striking, the University's policy is still to wait until the NLRB rules on its 2002 appeal. To minimize disruption during the strike, provost Alan Brinkley has demanded that every student receive marks in all classes and that seniors' grades be reported in time for them to graduate.

Core directors are also trying to reduce the strike's effect. In Art Humanities, five out of 23 preceptors are striking, but no sections have been cancelled. Robert Harrist, the director of Art Hum., and last year's Art Hum. director Holger Klein, have each taken over two sections. Harrist hired one summer adjunct professor to teach the last section.

Eileen Gillooly, director of the Core Curriculum, has planned review sessions for Contemporary Civilization, the class the strike has affected most dramatically apart from University Writing.

While yesterday's rally did not change the administration's position, it did show that support for a vote on unionization is still strong. Aided by a unionization group at Yale, unionized graduate students from NYU, the Transport Workers Union of Greater New York, Columbia maintenance staff, and Columbia, Barnard, and Teachers College clerical workers, police estimate that the GSEU picket line included between 800 and 1,000 people at one point.

At 12:20 p.m., the picketers stopped marching, and Maida Rosenstein, the president of Local UAW 2110, rallied the protesters by asking, "What do we want? Union! When do we want it? Now!"

Rosenstein then introduced Sweeney, who had spoken in favor of a unionization ballot on the eve of the strike vote on April 13. Yesterday, he reiterated his and AFL-CIO's support of GSEU.

"We're standing with you. We'll fight beside you as long as it takes to bring Columbia to justice," Sweeney said.

Sweeney has tried to meet with University President Bollinger to discuss the strike, but Bollinger has not returned his calls.

Connie McQueen of Teachers College, UAW 9 Assistant Director Julie Kushner, Local 1199 Executive Vice President Betty Hughly, and City Council members Christine Quinn and Gale Brewer also gave speeches supporting GSEU.

The last speaker was history graduate student Nellie Boucher. "Every day Columbia has tried to ignore us, but they can't ignore us anymore," said Boucher, who has been on the picket line every day since the strike began.

With that, the crowd of hundreds followed her and about six drummers through the Columbia gates. The protesters circled Low Library, home to senior administrators. Then they overtook Low Steps, chanting, "Union now!"

"Today's rally was an amazing show of show of support," David Carpio, GSEU spokesman and former Columbia graduate student, said. "It showed that we're stronger than we were on our first day."