Frequently Asked Questions

The first step is building strong majority support across campus for forming a union, and securing recognition. Strong majority support gives us more power to get our union recognized and begin the collective bargaining process. 

Under collective bargaining in the UAW, faculty fill out bargaining surveys to articulate priorities for a contract. We also elect representatives of our peers, fellow faculty, to a bargaining committee. Guided by the feedback in the bargaining surveys, the elected committee develops bargaining goals that we vote to approve, before sitting down with the administration and negotiating contract proposals. Once a tentative agreement is reached, faculty must vote to accept or reject the contract before it goes into effect.

Thousands of faculty in New York City at Universities such as NYU, New School (Parsons), and Barnard have won strong union contracts and are represented by UAW.

We are the union for non-tenure track faculty at Columbia University. Our objective is to establish recognition of our union and collective bargaining with the Columbia University administration. To get more involved in our effort, contact our Organizing Committee.

Contingent faculty at Columbia University are asking colleagues to sign union authorization cards. Signing a card affirms that we as non-tenure track faculty want to form a union with our colleagues as Contingent Faculty of Columbia University – UAW (CFCU-UAW) to bargain collectively with Columbia University. You can sign a card here. 

Signing authorization cards is one of the steps in the process to having our union recognized in order to bargain collectively with the university. Once a strong majority of contingent faculty have signed authorization cards, faculty will seek recognition of our union from Columbia University, either by asking for Columbia to voluntarily recognize our union, or by filing a petition for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Once we achieve recognition, faculty will decide on our bargaining priorities democratically, then elect a bargaining committee to negotiate with Columbia’s administration. The agreement the elected bargaining committee reaches can only go into effect once a majority of faculty vote to ratify it.

Tens of thousands of contingent faculty and other academic workers across the country have successfully taken these steps to win collective bargaining at their universities. We look forward to joining them!

Contingent Faculty of Columbia University – United Auto Workers (CFCU-UAW) seeks to include all non-tenure faculty at Columbia University. If you have a question about your eligibility or want to sign up, please contact us.

UAW is the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW). UAW has historically been one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America. In recent decades, 120,000 employees in higher education have joined, making UAW the single largest union of higher ed academic employees in the US. Academic employees from the University of California, Harvard, UConn, Columbia University, University of Washington, and many more have found that joining UAW has allowed them to democratically determine priorities as a workforce and dramatically increase power to win improved rights and benefits through collective bargaining.

Additionally, Contingent faculty at Barnard College, adjunct faculty at NYU and part-time faculty at the New School (Parsons) are a part of the UAW and recently negotiated strong, precedent-setting contracts. We hope that by working together with our unionized colleagues, we can have a greater impact both at institutions of higher education and in society more generally.

Membership dues are important because they provide the resources necessary for effective representation. As part of the UAW, we would not pay dues until we have gone through the bargaining process and voted democratically to approve our first contract. Dues are critical for providing us with independent resources that are not controlled by the school: we use them to ensure we have appropriate legal, bargaining, community and staff support to represent adjuncts. UAW membership dues are currently 1.44% of gross monthly income and can only be increased by membership action (the membership in a few local unions, for example, have voted to increase dues above 1.44% to have more resources).

No one can be required to become a member of the Union after we have a contract. In most contracts, since everyone in the bargaining unit must receive all of the benefits of the contract, non-members are generally required to pay a comparable “fair share” fee, so the cost of representation is shared equally. The inclusion of a similar provision at Columbia University would be something we decide as part of our bargaining agenda, would be subject to negotiation with Columbia University’s administration, and contingent on ratification as part of our contract.

Many private sector academic worker unions have such a provision in the contract because it means we have more power and more resources available to enforce our rights under our contract, campaign for the best possible future contracts, and help other academic workers form their own unions. Under the UAW, there is also a one-time initiation fee, which ranges from $10 to $50 and is determined democratically in local union bylaws approved by members.

The value of increased wages and benefits in the first contract typically outweighs the cost of dues, often leading to overwhelming majority approval of those agreements. For example, the highest paid Part-Time Faculty at the New School won a minimum raise of 9.85% for the 2022/2023 academic year, plus guaranteed increases in subsequent years.

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Striking is a powerful tool for workers to achieve our objectives. We would decide democratically whether or not to call a strike. Under the UAW constitution, a strike can only occur after a vote in which 2/3 of members voting authorize their elected representatives on the bargaining committee to call a strike.

Yes. International workers have the same legal right to join a union as American citizens. Visa requirements that international faculty members may only accept employment associated with the school sponsoring their visa in no way compromise the right to belong to a union. No faculty member who is part of the UAW has reported any complications arising from the dual status of being both an international faculty member and a unionized employee.

Participation in political activities such as picketing, rallies, leafleting, and demonstrations, is protected under the Constitution for those residing in the U.S. on international workers visas, just as it is for U.S. citizens.

Dues support a variety of resources that will give us the clout we need to effectively represent our members, including educational, legal, negotiating, and other membership services. Dues also contribute to organizing new groups of workers, the strike and defense fund, and some political action. 

Retaliation is against the law, and you have rights as an Columbia University employee and union supporter. Thousands of Columbia University employees have already organized with the UAW and bargained with the administration, including graduate employees, postdoctoral researchers and associate research scientists, support staff, and contingent faculty at Barnard College. The UAW represents over 100,000 academic workers across the U.S., and has represented faculty in a variety of employment situations. International faculty and U.S. citizens have the same rights to join a union.

Over the past few decades, more than 20,000 academic workers across our region alone have successfully organized unions: NYU adjunct faculty and graduate workers; Barnard adjunct and contract faculty; Harvard grad workers; UConn student workers and postdocs; New School part-time faculty and student workers; Columbia University graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral workers; Mt. Sinai postdocs. These UAW academic unions have productive relationships with their university administrations and have secured many workplace improvements for employees across their campuses, including protections that are especially valuable for international academic employees.