Last week, 500 Columbia University Support Staff and Clerical Workers - Members of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, gathered to picket at the University's gate on Broadway in Manhattan, joining 250 Workers in Dining, Medical and Library Services who are Members of 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) United Healthcare Workers East. With both Unions currently in contract negotiations, the University has offered an insulting 2% raise - an amount so low that when inflation is counted in, it amounts to a pay cut. “Columbia uses a lot of the same kind of Union-Busting approach, so we are uniting our forces,” Local 2110 President Olga Brudastova said. At the rally, one 1199 SEIU Member blew a yellow whistle and marched with a sign that read: “Sorry we couldn’t all be here today. Some of us were busy working two jobs to make ends meet!” Another read: “The second largest landowner in NYC does not pay us enough to pay our rent.” Union Members also handed out a flier with Columbia Executive Vice President of Arts and Sciences Amy Hungerford’s compensation: $894,126 a year, 18 times the average Dining Worker pay and 24 times the pay of Student Workers in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, where she’s a Professor.

For More On This Labor News Story, Go To: Columbia Tries to Undermine Its Unions, Hire Scab Instructors | Labor Notes

Photo Courtesy Of The New York City AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s Website.