Columbia University graduate students were hurtling toward a strike when a warning arrived from a union that has been through lots of strikes: Stop making radical and ridiculous demands.
The stern message from the United Auto Workers (UAW) was delivered to leaders of the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC), a union representing about 3,500 student workers, last month. Since then, SWC members have voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike, but UAW officials have said that they will not allow it to happen or provide funding for a strike unless the students negotiate further with Columbia, according to internal union communications reviewed by The Free Press. SWC is a local branch of the UAW, which must green-light any strike.
