Original online here.
To the Office of the Executive Vice President for Student Life, the Office of the Executive Vice
President for Student Affairs, Assistant Rules Administrator Torres, members of the University
Judicial Board, and members of the University Senate,
Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 opposes the university’s disciplinary
proceedings against members of our unit and our community, initiated in response to campus
protests demanding Columbia University divest its funding of the genocide in Gaza carried out
by Israeli military forces. The university’s approach raises a number of issues which must be
addressed and ultimately warrants the dismissal of these disciplinary cases.
According to the university’s own Statutes, the Rules of University Conduct under which these
disciplinary proceedings fall “do not apply to participation in a demonstration, including a rally
or picketing, by full-time employees of the university represented by a collective bargaining
agent, where the demonstration arises in the course of or is incident to a labor dispute involving
the University” (§ 442). SWC and the university are engaged in multiple open labor disputes over
the university’s attacks on our rights as student workers and on the ongoing activism on campus.
We filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge to the NLRB on 7/3/2024, stating that many of
the University’s repressive responses to protests in support for Palestinian liberation are in
violation of the National Labor Relations Act. We have filed a number of grievances against the
University related to workplace safety in response to NYPD presence on campus, violations of
the ADA due to arbitrary campus closures, the restriction of workplace and healthcare access
through the use of campus closures and interim suspensions, and unconsented surveillance of
student workers–some of which are still ongoing and may go to third-party arbitration. We have
also recently passed resolutions in support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and
Cops Off Campus. The active ULP and grievances filed against Columbia University
constitute an open labor dispute between SWC and the university; this dispute will only
intensify as the university continues to unilaterally alter workplace conditions in violation
of our rights as unionized workers in their attempt to quell the community movement for
Palestinian liberation.
These ongoing efforts underscore that SWC has made divestment a core part of its organizing
mission–a stance it has openly adopted through several public votes, such as our unit-wide vote
to become a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest. As such, pro-Palestine protests,
in which our members participate or are accused of participating, are “demonstration[s
that] arise in the course of or [are] incident to a labor dispute involving the University.”
Thus, the use of the disciplinary process against these unit members violates the
university’s own Statues and, more importantly, our inviolable right to protest and political
speech as workers, delegitimizing the process as it presently exists and warranting the
dismissal of all current disciplinary cases. The university president has made it clear that she believes that the university should not divest from Israel and should allow the indiscriminate
torture and murder of an unfathomable number of Palestinians to continue–with Columbia’s aid.
SWC has made its stance equally clear: the Union demands that the university divest from
its indirect and direct holdings in weapons manufacturers and any other firms supporting
Israeli apartheid. SWC strongly opposes the use of the disciplinary process against those
accused of protesting in support of this cause.
Furthermore, there are numerous other abuses and irregularities present in the university’s
accusations and disciplinary hearings. Disciplinary hearings have fallen disproportionately on
current and recent Union leadership and thus constitute retaliation against SWC. Core
Union organizers suspended for protest activity have remained suspended for far longer than
many others, often to the detriment of their personal and professional lives–limiting their access
to employment, education, food, and housing in many cases. These disciplinary claims against
both Union and non-Union students are spurious and almost certainly politically-motivated. For
instance, there seems to be no complainant to the accusations raised against those accused of
violating the university’s conduct rules. In fact, the university has stated in interviews that
anything as non-specific as a New York Times article can be the basis of a “complaint.”
Furthermore, the Union is perplexed as to how a third-party contractor Omar E. Torres is
a suitable candidate to be the Rules Administrator in these proposed proceedings, as
Torres’s personal vendetta against pro-Palestine activists has been publicly documented,
demonstrating a clear conflict of interest. It is shameful that the university would hire someone
so obviously incapable of impartially assessing the university’s accusations of rule violations. It
is clear to us that these proceedings are of a purely political nature and are designed to bend
university rules to specifically punish students and workers accused of being involved in
organizing for Palestinian liberation. We will not stand for this blatant retaliation against our
protected rights, and we particularly call for the removal of Omar E. Torres as Assistant
Rules Administrator.
These serious issues question the legitimacy of these proceedings for both unit members and
non-unit members alike. As such, SWC demands the dismissal of all current disciplinary
proceedings related to alleged activism in support of Palestinian liberation as well as a
substantive response from the university on how they intend to ensure fairness and
transparency in future disciplinary proceedings.
In solidarity with the people of Palestine,
Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710
