Cornell University Workers Strike as Students Return to Campus

Cornell University workers are on strike until they can reach an agreement with the university.

The union represents over 1,200 workers, including dining hall and custodial staff.

The university and the union had been at the bargaining table, attempting to work out a new contract.

The previous contract had expired on July 1 .

UAW Local 2300 has been pushing to secure a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) clause in its contract with Cornell , just as it won with the Big Three auto plants.

Ithaca 's oversize pace of labor fights for its small size could be partially attributed to the fact that Cornell is home to the renowned Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) school, which creates an international draw for students who want to learn about labor law.

The CGSU bargaining committee voiced support for the UAW effort.

CGSU was the second recent attempt to organize graduate students; in 2017 , Cornell graduate students unsuccessfully attempted to unionize.

An arbitrator found that Cornell violated federal labor law with an e-mail sent the day before the unionization vote that implied that pro-union graduate workers would be voting against their self-interest.