ITHACA, N.Y. — With only about two weeks before Cornell University’s student move-in day, over a thousand workers that keep the Ivy League campus running could go on strike if their union’s demands are not met in what has become a heated labor contract negotiation.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) has continued to turn up the temperature on contract negotiations with Cornell after the union’s bargaining team has repeatedly shot down what it calls “insulting” offers from the university.
The UAW has held rallies nearly every weekday for the past two weeks, and has now filed seven unfair labor lawsuits with the National Labor Relations Board. The suits allege that Cornell has retaliated against workers for participating in union activities, discriminating against union members, failing to bargain in good faith and interfering with workers’ rights to organize.
UAW Local 2300 represents a bargaining unit of about 1,200 workers at the university. Most of the bargaining unit’s members are custodians, groundskeepers, cooks and food service workers, but the unit also includes greenhouse workers, gardeners, mechanics and other positions. Their collective bargaining agreement with Cornell expired on July 1, 2024.
Cornell officials have maintained that they are committed to reaching a fair agreement with the UAW as union officials have now repeatedly stated that a strike is imminent if their contractual demands are not met. It’s a posture that is in keeping with the aggressive negotiation tactics the UAW has employed since Shawn Fain was elected president of the union in March 2023.
“The university’s bargaining team still thinks that this is the old UAW,” said Daniel Vicente, director of UAW Region 9, which covers western and central New York, New Jersey, and most of Pennsylvania.
Vicente, who appeared at a UAW rally on Cornell’s campus Friday, said in an interview, “I’m the one who would sign the strike authorization, I’m saying a strike is absolutely possible.”
Union officials are seeking to give workers free parking, introduce cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA), and wage increases of 25% to 30% over four years for all workers in the bargaining unit. According to the UAW, the average worker in the bargaining unit makes about $22 an hour.
The bargaining team for the UAW published in a blog post online that Cornell last offered a raise of 80 cents an hour in the first year of the contract, followed by 60 cents an hour for the rest of the contract.
The UAW often cites the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator in its argument for higher wages for its members. Tompkins County’s living wage, which is supposed to be high enough for a full-time worker to support themselves, is $24.64, according to MIT.
Additionally, the UAW is also seeking to end a tiered wage system in its contract with Cornell. Under the tiers, workers that began at Cornell University prior to June 30, 1997 make a higher wage than workers that were hired after that date. Under the current labor contract, a custodian at Cornell might make $21.99 an hour, but a custodian on the same pay grade that started before the tier date makes $26.12 an hour.
Vicente said the workers represented by UAW at Cornell “keep this place up and running,” and that if Cornell is in good financial health, then that should be passed along to its workers. If Cornell and the UAW cannot come to an agreement before move-in day, Vicente said the union may strike on that day.
“If it comes to it, it comes to it. If we have to target move-in day, then we target move-in day,” Vicente said.
In response to a request for comment, a university spokesperson said in an email that Cornell has maintained “long and productive relationships” with the UAW as well as other unions, and that the UAW has the right to communicate with employees in a way that it sees helpful.
“The university is committed to reaching a fair and reasonable contract and is looking forward to returning to the bargaining table with the UAW this week and until we reach an agreement,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not directly respond to questions about the potential of a strike disrupting the start of the fall semester.
At a rally Friday, Brian Nance, a custodian who has worked at Cornell for about three years, described the tier system as unfair. He said he wanted to see a substantial wage increase result from the contract negotiations. Nance said that at the very least, Cornell should be paying its workers a living wage, and called the last contract offer the school made “disgusting.”
“Wages nowadays are not enough to pay rent and eat and live,” Nance said.
Hardball negotiation tactics have become tightly associated with UAW after the union ran strikes at multiple auto-manufacturing plants owned by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis — known as the “Big Three” automakers — to win record wage increases in its labor contracts with the companies in 2023.
Ray Jensen, assistant director of UAW Region 9, said “What I’ve learned [with] the Big Three is that they don’t care about the workers. They only care about their brand and their image in the media, and once that starts getting tarnished, then they pay attention. If it takes a strike to get their attention, we’re ready, willing and able to do that.”
The post “If it comes to it”: UAW official says Cornell workers may strike on student move-in day appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.