UAW workers strike at Cornell as undergrads arrive, contract negotiations continue

United Automobile Workers 2300 and its negotiations with Ithaca’s own Ivy-League University, Cornell came to a head over the weekend as collective bargaining and a worker strike is threatening school services during what has been historically some of the most hectic days of the year for Ithaca locals and visitors alike.

The cause? A lapsed labor contract for more than 1,200 university groundskeepers, cooks, custodians, and other workers at the university, which the UAW claims, should be doing more for them than what they’re being offered by the university today.

UAW 2300 officially staged a worker's strike beginning Monday at the university after receiving numerous offers from the university that would increase union pay packages, and community members including Ithaca officials showed in support of the union group Sunday evening on Pine Tree Road, as the groups most recent “deadline” to the university came to a close.

As the strikes began Monday, members of UAW 2300 met with the university bargaining team, and undergrad students began to arrive and move in to the historic campus.

“While the University did finally propose a Cost of Living Adjustment; in return, we made a counteroffer with a 10% concession in wage percentages for the life of the agreement,” Amy Kloc, representative for UAW Region 9 wrote in an article updated Monday on the union group web page. “In response to our large movement, the University made us wait for four hours to move only 1% for all of the four years.”

“It felt like a very deliberate attempt to disrespect us,” she said. “It was received by your bargaining team with immediate and complete disappointment … Cornell has every opportunity to make a movement that approaches the Union’s. They have every opportunity to take us out of poverty wages. To date, they have refused. As a result, we are taking a job action against them.”

The post announced how strike assignments will begin immediately, offering assigned members of the union strike pay for their time.

Just after the UAW's labor contract with the university expired July 30, the UAW filed seven separate unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Cornell, citing violations of workers’ rights and federal labor laws amid ongoing contract negotiations.

Cornell’s clarifications

Following the numerous UAW rallies on and off campus over the weekend and the beginnings of a strike on campus Monday, Cornell University Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Christine Lovely and the University’s Interim Provost John Siliciano addressed a statement to Cornell faculty and staff which aimed to clarify aspects of the university often criticized by the UAW in social media posts, including it’s $10 billion yearly endowment.

More: The city of Ithaca bargained with the university for months in 2023, culminating in a $4 million per year contribution from the university.

“Despite the University’s best efforts to negotiate a fair agreement and avoid a strike, UAW officials last evening rejected our offer. The union also continues to reject our proposal that we use the federal mediator assigned to the negotiations or a mediator of the UAW’s choice that could assist the parties in reaching a complete agreement,” Siliciano and Lovely stated.

The statement explains how Cornell’s yearly endowment is largely restricted by agreements with donors, only to be used for specific purposes they designate.

While the University does draw from an endowment fund each year, its officials assert it is only in amounts restricted by New York State Law and only for financial aid, facility maintenance, upgrades and other academic or student support activities.

In 2023, the endowment provided $386 million towards those expenses, which the statement claimed, “would otherwise have had to come from sources like tuition and housing and dining charges.”

The university said it cannot simply raise tuition to unimaginable levels to cover the cost.

The statement also included safety and work expectations for university staff during the strikes and mention of further contingency plans that will change staffing levels in certain areas of the university if need be.

University officials encouraged the staff not on strike to sign up for temporary shifts or alternative work assignments.

“As we find ourselves in unprecedented territory, the university must utilize the flexibility of reassigning staff from across the campus to meet critical safety and service needs in Dining, Building Care, and the Statler,” they said.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: UAW workers strike at Cornell as undergrads arrive, contract negotiations continue