Academic Extraction: Columbia Student Workers Strike +NYU Might Follow (w/ Yasemin + Dylan)

Prior to COVID-19, a significant percentage of academic revenue –particularly in terms of New York University (NYU) and Columbia University– came from real estate. COVID-19 has jeopardized the security of those assets and underlined the importance of teaching staff in order to establish value for classes that are online for the same full tuition as in person learning. So why is Columbia University refusing to agree to the demands of the Graduate Student Workers Union? Why are graduate students who typically make below the Federal Poverty Line having their pay withheld by Columbia in lieu of redistributing money from the university’s endowment?

Yasemin Akçagüner (representing the Columbia Graduate Student Workers Strike) and Dylan Iannitelli (representing the Graduate Student Union at NYU) join We Be Imagining to share an inside view of being a scholar during the austerity politics of COVID-19, the scope of their demands which include the right to neutral arbitration for workers experiencing sexual harassment and the stakes of their labor organizing given graduate students are the life blood of a university.

Yasemin Akcaguner Graduate Student Worker, 3rd year PhD and TA in History Department a member of Graduate Workers of Columbia University: GWC-UAW Local 2110 , UAW Local 2110 and Academic Workers For a Demcratic Union (AWDU)

Dylan Iannitelli  6th year PhD student in Biology studying neurodegeneration, a member of the Grad Student Union at NYU and a member of the Academic Workers For a Demcratic Union (AWDU).

**PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE COLUMBIA ACADEMIC STUDENT WORKERS HARDSHIP FUND Solidarity with Columbia Academic Student Workers

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Host: J. Khadijah Abdurahman
Music: Drew Lewis

Links for the Episode:
The graduate workers union strike: explained
Columbia reports $310 million increase in endowment during pandemic while smaller schools flounder
NYU strike authorization vote begins as graduate workers continue strike at Columbia University
Ivy League Presidents Take Pay Cuts Up to 25% in Crisis
Columbia TAs who say they can't pay their rent due to COVID-19 launch work stoppage
Columbia University graduate students demand rent freeze
Columbia People's COVID Response
Columbia still refuses to give the GWC-UAW neutral, third-party arbitration. Is this indicative of a deeper institutional issue?
FY 2020 Financial Statements for The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
GSOC Petitions for NYU to Stop Stonewalling Contract Negotiations
Columbia Grad Students On Strike Over Wages And Harassment Policies, NYU Counterparts Voting On Similar Actions
Columbia canceled housing contracts, so 14,000 students moved into the city. What does this mean for the local housing market?