Overview of SWC Demands (As of March 2026)

The University community may wish to understand the shape and details of SWC’s demands in bargaining to date. The demands outlined here provide an overview; while they do not include all of the union’s demands to date, they do represent subjects that may be of particular interest to the community.

The union has presented many of these demands during bargaining sessions largely without allowing for active, back-and-forth negotiation. The University’s March 20 bargaining update describes SWC’s mode of presentation, without answering University questions or allowing open discussion.

Non-Employment, Permissive Demands that Infringe Academic and Operational Authority

Labor law creates no obligation to negotiate over matters not directly related to employment (known as permissive subjects). Columbia’s negotiations with SWC have an additional layer – the Framework Agreement. As explained in a prior update, that agreement set specific boundaries for SWC negotiations between employment matters, which are subject to bargaining, and academic and operational matters, which are not subject to negotiation and must remain under University and faculty control. 

While SWC has referred publicly to topics like pay and healthcare as part of its “strike platform” following the union’s strike authorization vote, those are not the subjects the union is demanding to focus on in negotiations. At the bargaining table, the core demands SWC raises again and again and has spent the most time on are both permissive and outside the bounds of the Framework Agreement. 

Just a few examples of SWC’s demands as part of its employment contract that infringe the University and faculty’s academic and operational authority include:

  1. Academic discretion in teaching and conducting research equal to that afforded faculty, as well as immunity from discipline for any activity inside or outside the classroom that the union deems within a student employee’s academic field, or for any activity relating to any matter of social, political, economic, University, or other interest, regardless of whether the activity violates the Rules of University Conduct.
  2. A baseline number of funded student positions and a uniform 6-year funding guarantee for all PhD students in all schools, in each department, regardless of department or University needs, academic priorities, changes in post-graduation job prospects, program-specific funding models, or resources.
  3. Restrictive limits on the use of Artificial Intelligence tools in teaching and research, including restrictions on faculty use of AI in their work with or to manage student employees, and a prohibition on requiring student employees to use AI.
  4. A full year of transitional funding without evidence of cause whenever a student claims an “unhealthy” advisor relationship or objection to the funding sources or uses of their research; the University would have to maintain a centralized database of all advisors’ active funding sources available to any student employee and a significant centralized transitional support fund.
  5. Amnesty for all union members disciplined for student misconduct under the Rules of University Conduct during protest or demonstration activity, and special procedures, policies, and protections for union members in University and departmental student discipline processes.
  6. Mandatory support for the “Boycott, Divest, Sanction” movement (“BDS”) in the form of required University divestment from and prohibition of contracting or partnering with any entity the union decides is “complicit in violations of international law,” as confirmed by a binding vote of undergraduate and graduate students.
  7. Prohibiting Columbia from opening its Global Center in Tel Aviv.
  8. Elimination of E-Verify regardless of the fact that it is required for international student participation in STEM-OPT extension, placing this option off limits to students who want the extension.
  9. The unqualified right to demonstrate or protest on campus, whether or not it violates the Rules of University Conduct.
  10. Comprehensive restrictions on University Public Safety and cooperation with legitimate law enforcement, and a union role in oversight of Public Safety operations.
  11. An open campus with no security or ID checks at access points to campus regardless of the circumstances or considerations of campus safety. 

Economic Proposals

Additionally, while the University has sought to help students whose support had been flat during these stalled negotiations by voluntarily increasing student employee pay and stipends by 3% and renewing and increasing student employees’ healthcare support funds, SWC has put forward economic demands that have little chance of advancing the contract renewal because of their overreach. The demands are far out of line with benefits available to other union and non-union Columbia employees, let alone student employees at peer universities.

SWC’s demands related to compensation and benefits include: 

  1. Minimum annual on-appointment compensation of $76,372 for all PhD students (a 54% increase for 12-month appointments; 75% increase for 9-month appointments), for part-time, 20 hour/week positions. (For comparison, Harvard’s graduate student union has demanded a $55,000 minimum stipend.)
  2. A minimum wage of $36.50/hour for students paid hourly for instructional or research work (a 59% increase).
  3. Guaranteed annual raises of at least 8%, coming in increments four times per year – at least 2% per quarter or double the 3-month inflation rate, whichever is greater.
  4. A $25,000 per child annual childcare subsidy – $50,000 per child for single parents.
  5. A $1.25 million support fund for student employees and their dependents’ out-of-pocket health expenses (a 100% increase), with fund increases of at least 4.5% per year.
  6. Up to 11 additional paid days off per year for part-time positions, including 15 vacation days for those on 12-month appointments (up from 10) or 12 vacation days for those on 9-month appointments (up from 8), 3 new paid holidays (2 of which are not available to others at the University), and 2 paid personal days per semester (up from 1).
  7. Free annual transit cards for all student employees during all years of enrollment, even when not employed by the University (including for master’s and undergraduate students).
  8. $6,000 relocation grant for all PhD students regardless of whether they are employed in their first term at Columbia, and for master’s and undergraduate students who are employed during their first semester.
  9. 100% University retirement program contribution match for student employees, up to 8% of their salary.
  10. Zero-premium comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for all student employees (including master’s and undergraduates) and their dependents, with the ability to choose between the student and employee health insurance plans at any time.
  11. Seven years of guaranteed University housing (up from the five years currently guaranteed to PhD students in GSAS), including continued guaranteed housing eligibility while on leave of absence for student employees and their dependents through the current housing agreement and at least 12 months more, even if not a registered student or employee.