COLUMBIA AND BARNARD: STOP STAFF REPRESSION NOW
JUSTICE FOR OUR COMRADES!
356 SIGNATURES AND COUNTING AS OF 10/2/2024, 08:31
Sign on to this open letter:
On May 10th, 2024, Clara C., an administrative assistant in a Columbia language department and union member of United Auto Workers Local 2110, was terminated by the university. Her termination came just three weeks after she visited the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on April 18th during her unpaid lunch break, at which point she was off the clock. On that day, now former President Minouche Shafik authorized the arrest of over 100 students and staff by inviting the NYPD onto campus in order to clear peaceful protest from the South Lawn. Clara was herself arrested as a result of Shafik's blatant violation of free speech, shared governance and community safety by allowing police onto campus to suppress the protest of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
Clara's termination became the first of multiple retaliatory firings by the university to appease billionaire donors threatening to withdraw their financial support. To date, at least four employees of Columbia and Barnard, two of whom are members of UAW Local 2110, have been terminated, upending their lives and placing them in significant financial hardship. As outraged staff, we write this letter to condemn, in the strongest terms, the targeted firings of Columbia University and Barnard College workers for their participation in the movement for a free Palestine and divestment from Israel. These firings are an escalation in the coordinated campaign to suppress anti-Zionist speech and organizing at Columbia and Barnard, including organizing protected by federal law. Over the last year, Columbia, Barnard, and universities across the country have deployed parallel strategies of surveillance and punishment to repress students, faculty, and staff alike, who dare to condemn the state of Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza and who uplift the courage and moral leadership of the Palestinian people.
Just as university policies governing student conduct were constantly revised to justify discipline for what had been previously normalized political activity, so too were new policies devised to prohibit staff from expressing solidarity with Palestine without risking termination. University HR investigations kicked into gear to quell staff involvement, leading to the first known staff firing in retaliation for visiting the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. The firing of Clara C. appears to be yet another rushed call from high within the university administration. Clara was initially suspended in a surprise meeting with HR on May 1st, with the reason for her suspension never stated. A grievance filed by her union immediately following her suspension was ignored by the university, denying Clara the opportunity to present evidence or understand the accusations against her. Columbia neither acknowledged nor scheduled a date for the grievance of her suspension, and instead terminated Clara on May 10th. With no prior disciplinary record or performance issues, the only reason ever given for her firing was "the serious misconduct that occurred on April 18, 2024." In our employer's eyes, "serious misconduct" amounts to sitting on grass and speaking out against genocide. Inviting lethal force onto campus, however, is normalized by Columbia administration as acceptable for daily working conditions. Non-union workers have also faced unilateral repression for their participation in the movement for Palestine, including two known firings carried out by letters in the mail in May. These staff received no warning or follow up communications regarding their termination.
The fourth known staff member fired, this time at Barnard and also a union member of UAW Local 2110, was terminated after months of harassment carried out by supervisors and directed by executive-level university administration. Incited by the staff member's known support for Palestine, the university carried out an investigation in order to produce any and all information which could be used to effect their termination. HR recruited other workers to surveil the staff member in order to fabricate allegations against them which could form the basis of a "just cause" discharge. Again, with no disciplinary record prior to being targeted nor any record of performance problems, they were fired mid-summer for an alleged violation of their collective bargaining agreement. While egregious, these cases are hardly anomalous. For students, faculty, and staff alike, the university aims to make examples out of anyone who speaks up for Palestine in order to sow fear and dampen solidarity.
This connection, however, is often obscured due to the insistence that staff are solely workers, not part of the greater intellectual or political community. The university, in its mission as an educational institution, encourages the political engagement of its students and its faculty. But as an employer, the university suppresses the political engagement of its workers. An apology can be issued for bringing NYPD to campus by the same administration that will retain a white-shoe law firm to undermine worker collective bargaining and carry out student conduct cases aimed at evicting and suspending pro-Palestine students for months on end. Whether we demand living wages or we speak openly of an ongoing act of genocide, a worker's voice is a threat to their employer. Palestine makes plain that surveillance, censorship, and the menace of punishment are the nature of the workplace: bosses have the power and the prerogative to watch everything workers do; staff are expected and encouraged to surveil each other under the guise of mutual accountability; and all are coerced to comply with rules, standards, and unspoken expectations for silence under threat of discipline and termination.
In response, we as workers must organize to defend ourselves. Without rank-and-file power, without solidarity across shops, across locals, across organizations, the protections supposedly enshrined in contracts and in law are a dead letter, all to the benefit of the bosses. The university administrations seek to exercise unilateral authority over the conditions of employment for unionized and non-unionized staff alike, and the ongoing colonization of Palestine presents an opportunity for them to vastly expand their capacity to do so.
This is why staff continue to choose to resist alongside students, student workers, and faculty for justice in Palestine. Though the risks are different, the administrative capacity for surveillance, censorship, and punishment which is routinely deployed against workers is now being deployed against everyone else. The same vice presidents who fire staff suspend students. The same provosts who investigate faculty send warnings to whole departments where solidarity with Palestine is concentrated. The same basic need for housing and healthcare is leveraged to extract compliance with policies designed to manufacture consent for genocide.
At each step of heightened university repression, students and workers for Palestine prove that the only answer is renewed resistance and strengthened solidarity.
AS SIGNATORIES TO THIS LETTER,
WE UNEQUIVOCALLY DEMAND:
(1) Immediate reinstatement for Clara C. and for all fired university workers at Columbia and Barnard
(2) Compensation for the emotional and material harms our employers have caused
(3) An end to baseless HR investigations into anti-Zionist workers
(4) We further call upon labor unions across higher education to treat the coordinated university suppression of protest of genocide as an emergency for the rights of all workers, worthy of proactive planned countermeasures from rank-and-file union members, community members and union staff
(5) We remain steadfast in our call for total university and union divestment from Israel, an end to genocide, and a free Palestine within our lifetime
COLUMBIA COMMUNITY AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Zivia Lichtenberg, Columbia University Support Staff, UAW Local 2110
Vayne Ong, History, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Gloria Graf, Recent graduate, Mailman school of public health, SWC Local 2710
Alia ElKattan, UAW Local 2110
Claire Valdez, School of the Arts, UAW Local 2110
Kiyan Tavangar, SWC Local 2710
Olivia Newsome, Barnard College, Archives
Eva-Quenby Johnson, UAW Local 2110
Lexy Pryor, SEAS, CURA Collective
Conlan Olson, Computer Science, SWC Local 2710
Zachary Valdez, Columbia University Support Staff, UAW Local 2110
Halla Anderson, School of Social Work, CSSW Abolition Caucus
Gabriel Mangum Lehmann, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Lilia Hadjiivanova, Columbia Law School
Stephanie Litchfield, Wallach Art Gallery, UAW Local 2110
Bucky Baldwin, CC
Basil R, American Studies
Analisa Faulkner Valiente , Mathematics Department, Barnard College
Emily, Columbia College, SWC Local 2710
Laylah Rodriguez, Barnard College
Anjana P, CC 26
mariam osman
Jonathan Ben-Menachem, GSAS-Sociology , SWC Local 2710
Gabriel Solis, History, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Ava Tomasula y Garcia, GSAS Anthropology, SWC Local 2710
Jared Kannel, GSAS
Ruwa Alhayek, COLUMBIA GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Paul Brown, Chemistry, SWC Local 2710
Laura Durante, Barnard
Hadeel Assali, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences / Center for Science and Society
Max Zahrah, Sustainable Development
Jeff Johnston, Zuckerman Institute, CPW Local 4100
Ethan Eblaghie, CC '28
Alessandra Diaz
E Patel
Hannah Cohen
Ben Simonds-Malamud, Teachers College
Jordan Lord, Alumni, CC 2012
Abbie H, CC
Hannah Puelle, CC '25, CURA Collective
Dave, School of the Arts
Sreoshi Sarkar, Barnard College ‘24
Alec Schachner, Sociocultural Anthro, English & Comp Lit / CC alum
Aidan Parisi
Aly Azhar
Jess Beck, Alum / Barnard
Sophie Kreitzberg, BC ‘19 & Barnard Staff Member
Jessie Rubin , GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Kay Kingston, GSAS
Maude Bachand
Julia Walton, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Josephine Daaboul, Mailman School of Public Health C/O 2023
Eman Elhadad
Neha Sundaram, Barnard ‘15, Law ‘25, SWC Local 2710
Caroline Bowman, Barnard College, UAW Local 2110
Jackie Orr, WGSS / Barnard, UAW Local 2110
Ethan Fraenkel, SWC Local 2710
Nefeli Chantzi
Raphie Mostov, SEAS
Maha Alami, SIPA
Fern Grear, Anthropology, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Y.A., SWC Local 2710
Flora Sugarman, Columbia School of Social Work
Susanna Weber, Biomedical Engineering, SWC Local 2710
Helen Zhong
Mairead Hynes, GSAS / History, SWC Local 2710
Jessie Rubin , GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Jared Jones, Philosophy / GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Ruilin Fan, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
lawrence maminta, Long Beach City College
Jeiran Jahani, UAW Local 2110
Alicia Mountain, PhD, BC 2010
Samir Rahman
Maha Alami, SIPA
Maha Alami , SIPA
Emily Cordes, TC Alum, Class of 2014
Iris S., Barnard College
Lorelei O’Hagan, SIPA MIA 08
Sydney McIlhenny
David Borgonjon, EALAC, SWC Local 2710
Vivian Jackson
Dalia, Law School
Ioanna Kourkoulou, Physics, SWC Local 2710
Justin Clark, Journalism School alum
Shaheen Hasan
Miranda Y., Barnard College
Mirabelle Fall, Columbia College
Diana Nabulsi, SIPA ‘20, Palestine Working Group
Grant Miner, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, SWC Local 2710
Saumya Dadoo, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Trevor Kenmure , SIPA 08
N S
Craig Birckhead-Morton, MESAAS, SWC Local 2710
Kelsey Harrison, SWC Local 2710
Priya Desai, Barnard
Anisa Mian, Mailman School of Public Health
Jason Butters, EALAC-History, SWC Local 2710
Loren Cardani, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Bo Tang, CC
Melissa Morrone, CC alum
Johannah King-Slutzky, English and Comparative Literature, GSAS, SWC Local 2710
Emily Wang, Barnard
Ibn-Umar Abbasparker
Tristan du Puy, SWC Local 2710
Gabrielle Wimer, VP&S
Katie Loos, Teachers College
Ahmad M., GSAS, UAW Local 2110
Rachel Mintz, Teachers College
Taylor Michl, Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College
Hannah Rosner, CC ‘14, CLS ‘21
Alaina Gostomski, Teachers College, Columbia University
Hilal Sharif, Columbia University SIPA, UAW 2110
Jesse Pearce, Barnard 2024
Charlie Steinman, GSAS - History, SWC Local 2710
Jeff M, Columbia University Support Staff, UAW Local 2110
Soph Askanase, Barnard
Chantel Heard, Columbia School of Social Work
Ruya Hazeyen, MESAAS, GSAS
Julia Neely, BC 25
Helen, CC
Karen Chavez, Barnard College
Ahmed Tabbakh, GSAS, History Department, PhD Program
Abigail CJ, BC ‘23
Samira Sangaré, ISHR-GSAS
Esther Park, Barnard College
Usha M.N., Alumni GSAS, UAW Local 2110
Insaf Dahha, Barnard College
Emily Choi, Barnard College
Mckenna Roberts, Barnard College, UAW Local 2110
Brianna Burke, French and Francophone Studies - Columbia University
Sophie Jones, Barnard
Quinn Fastnow
Jaella Wengel, Barnard ‘24, SIPA ‘25
Alondra Lozano
Fenton Davoren, GS
Olivia Grinberg, SIPA
Abbie Dubin-Rhodin, CC 2011 // Public Health 2013
Fatima Anwar, Law School
Ashling Lee, Columbia College
Ornina Yousef
Brenda Gonzalez, Columbia College
John Bohn, Social Work
AK, Barnard ‘26
TD, Barnard
Ryan Vinh, Columbia School of Social Work
Jasmeen Nijjar, CSSW
Will McClelland, Classics / SPS
Sarah C, GS
Lola Krivosic
Saipriya Valoth, BC '19, TC '22
Zira D., BC
E. Jones, History, CC
Katherine Herman, CC '05
Ella Henry, Columbia College
Lucie Levallois
Aeden Kamadolli, Columbia College
Carlos Ortiz, GS 19, UAW Local 2110
Francesca Zinanni, Università di Firenze
Giovanna Cestone, Università di Firenze
Angela Larsen, CLS '24
Lily Bushman-Copp, Center on Poverty and Social Policy
D. A., Mailman School of Public Health
Cate Casassa, SIPA
Sneha Palle, SIPA
Grace Marr, SIPA
Alexandra L., SIPA
Hanita Haller, SEAS CS
Jenny Park, MPA-DP
Sonia Huq
Divya Budihal, SIPA
Lucas Brooks, SIPA
Lhana Ormenyi, BC ‘17
Aliyah Elfar, CC ‘24
Marlon Kegel, GS
Sophie H
Schuyler Ross, School of Social Work
Lauren Wansker, 1199 SEIU
Kyra Purser, Barnard
Emma, BC '26
Tania Khan, Barnard
Micaela Hecht, Barnard ‘22, UAW Local 2110
Tasmina Khair, Columbia School of Social Work Alum
Benny Edelman, School of General Studies '26
Melissa Tanis, CSSW
Dominic Walker, Barnard College, UAW Local 2110
Pauline Flanagan
Ridwana Rahman
Mirha Syed, Columbia Climate School
Kristin Perkins, English and Comparative Literature, GSAS, UAW Local 2110
Nic Bensmiller
Victoria Klinger, SIPA
Madi Whitman, Center for Science and Society / Anthropology
Yusuf Luqman, ‘26
Shirley Luban, 1199 SEIU
Martha Tenney, Archives, Barnard College
Justin Michalson
Rebecca N, Barnard College
Lisa Ferguson
Bibi Loizzo, School of the Arts
Ann Fernandez, BC 2012
Jeremy Luban, Microbiology & Medicine/P&S 1987
ALLIES, UNIONS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
BC/CU Jewish Voice for Peace
Student Workers of Columbia - UAW 2710
NYC Labor for Palestine
UAW Local 7902
UAW Labor for Palestine
FLC CGIL trade union University of Florence (Italy)
Art Against Displacement
Gaza Solidarity Movement
GSWOC-UAW
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), Region 9A Chapter
Healthcare Students for Health Justice for Palestinians (HS4P) at Mount Sinai NYC
Library Freedom Project
Librarians and Archivists with Palestine
PAL-Awda NY/NJ
Rank and File for a Democratic Union – UAW 4811-UCLA
NYC Dissenters
Dawnya Ferdinandsen, UAW Local 14, UAWD
Nadja Eisenberg-Guyot, former Columbia postdoc
Connor Creagan
Shana Shaw, UAW Local 2250
Bryan Fotino (CMS Union, UAW Local 2325)
Chuck Gelman, UAW Local 7902, NYU Adjuncts
Jessica Coffrin-St. Julien
T. Samir, The New School
Jake Scarponi, UAW L.2322, Worcester DSA
Martha Grevatt, UAW Local 869
Sophia Gurulé, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325, Critical Resistance
Yeji Lee, NYU
Matthew Ware, Mailman School of Public Health
Alexi Shalom, UAW Local 2325
Johnson Dalmieda - Student Workers of Columbia (UAW 2710)
Eliza Bettinger, Cornell University Library
Jonathan Bloom—UAW Region 9A
Arthur Velwest
Katie Anderson- Rutgers
Iloe Ariss 2710
Katy, SWC UAW-2710
Nikki Rhodes, union librarian
Claudia Benincasa, UAW
Shubh Agrawal, GENU-UAW
Alexis Morin, Union Theological Seminary
Hebah Emara, NYU
Lisa Oakley, Northeastern University
Annemarie Guare, NOLSW UAW 2320
Valerie Fryer-Davis, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Miranda P, individual
Matthew R.M. Cassidy, Albany Public Library (Albany, NY)
Michael Letwin, former president, UAW 2325; Labor for Palestine
xenia dragon, GENU-UAW
Che Broadnax, Professor of Journalism + Design, The New School
Victoria Cadostin, B'23
Shahinaz Geneid, GENU-UAW
Cooper Lynn, UAW 4811
Rebecca Waxman, UCLA
Pooja Patel, UAW 2325
Niki Thomas, GENU-UAW
Suchi Mathur, CLS 2014
Kendrick Lu, Columbia Law alum
Beryl Baxter
Gabriel Flores- Local 2320
Tess Wilson - Library Freedom Project
Madeline Bowman, NOLSW UAW 2320
Danny Vazquez, CCNY Adjunct, PSC-CUNY
Emily Oliveira - Latin American & Iberian Cultures - SWC-UAW 2710
Kayla H, AFSCME DC47 Local 2187
Hannah Krasikov, NYU
Ben Read, UAW Local 2110
Molly Fair, UVA
Lowell Iporac - Association of Filipino Scientists in America
Walter Goodman
Temim Fruchter
Leigh-Anna Faith, CUNY Law Student
Leonardo Bargigli, Università di Firenze
L. Caumes, independent scholar
Reanna Esmail, Cornell University
Ally Pardo
Alaa Farghli NYC resident
Katherine Wilson (CUNY/PSC and Fordham /SEIU Local 200)
Chris Stone, Associate Professor, Hunter College (CUNY)
Maria Mejia, New York University
Diana Nabulsi
Miriam Gabriel, UFT
Matthew Zavislan, UAW Local 7902
Jack Condie SENS UAW 7902
Leila Buck, adjunct faculty, NYU
Elizabeth Benninger, NYU, ACT-UAW 7902
Vicki, NYSUT and JVP and ACLU
AJ, community supporter
James Dennis Hoff, PSC CUNY
Laura Hebert
Tatiana Cozzarelli, member of Cuny on Strike and Left Voice
Alberica Bazzoni, Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy
David Adams (member of teacher's union)
Solomon
Dolores Peralta
Ibn-Umar Abbasparker
John King, ACT-UAW, Local 7902, NYU Adjuncts
Dylan Kupsh, UAW 4811
Jessica Coffrin-St. Julien, UAW Local 2325
Lisa, UAW Local 2325
Alex Washington, UAW 2325
Genessee Floressantos, UAW Local 2110
Aviva Galpert, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325
Max Baumbach, UAW Local 2325
Paola Carbonari, Università di Firenze
Cameron Molyneaux, UAW 2325
Sophie C., UAW Local 2110
Jose Francisco Negrete, Teamsters Mobilize.
UPTE members for Palestine, UPTE-HX 9119
Shannan Clark, AFT Local 1904 & Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education
Katie Coombs, CWA 1032 Member
Valerie Robinson, DSA
Tam Nguyen, University of British Columbia (UBC) encampment
Brianna Busse
Aaron Stark, staff, University of Michigan
Dana Ayoub, CCNY
Carol Larancuent, UAW 2325
Danely Quiroz, Communities United
Marium Chowdhry
James Burns, University of New Mexico
Aminata Camara, Student
Maty Cropley, BPLPSS MLSA Local 4928 AFTMA
Paul DeStefano
Francesca, Università Firenze
Giovanna, Università di Firenze
Jameson Goetz, Teachers College, Columbia University ‘17
Claudia Valenta
Katie Pattenaude
G.P. Selvaggio
Grace Teeple, National Education Association
Elijah Kirshbaum
Carrie Young
Marisha Lozada, UAW Local 2110
Aspen Clark, ally
Scarlett Gonzalez
Lukas Illa, Community Member
Robert Loebe, Temple University
Emma McNeel
Kelly Ewing, Washington Federation of State Employees
Cole Yambrovich
Marleena Tamminen
Victoria Wolf-Llop
Zoe Langer
PT, ally
Gabrielle Boettner, Healthcare Workers for Palestine
Rahul P.
Sundus Sabbah
Jeremy Eugene -- Community Voices for Public Education
Adolfo Riffo
Nadja Eisenberg-Guyot, former Columbia Postdoc
Grace Armon, UMN UE
Emma Spickard, Community Member
LC, ally