Workers at Cornell University have gone on strike on the first day of college move-in after talks on a new contract broke down.
Those going on strike include maintenance and facilities workers, dining workers, gardeners, custodians, and agriculture and horticulture workers.
“Workers at Cornell are fed up with being exploited and used. The university would much rather hoard its wealth and power than pay its workers fairly,” said United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2300 President Christine Johnson. “Cornell could have settled this weeks ago. Instead, they’ve scoffed and laughed at us and broken federal law. We’re done playing around.”
“I am very, very sorry for this for the new students that are moving into Cornell University. We love the students. We want them to have a good experience, but the university does not want to pay us a living wage,” she added.
Cornell says it has offered the best deal they can.
“We further enhanced our offer [Saturday] to trigger, for the first time in a Cornell union negotiation, a cost of living (COLA) adjustment, in addition to the general wage increase, that protects all members of the bargaining unit from high future inflation,” Christine Lovely, vice president and chief human resources officer at Cornell, wrote in a statement.
The university offered UAW employees a 17.5 percent increase in wages over four years of the contract and stronger health and personal leave. However, UAW leaders say that the offers will still not offer a living wage for workers.
“Over the past four years, Cornell’s endowment has soared 39% to nearly $10 billion and tuition has increased 13% — all while workers’ buying power has fallen 5%,” Johnson added. “Many of the workers have had to move out of Ithaca to afford housing and must pay expensive parking fees to park on campus.”
According to Johnson, the current wage for most Cornell workers represented by her union is less than $22 per hour, which is lower than the estimate for the cost of living for a family in Ithaca.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found that the living wage is close to $25 for one adult without children and jumps to $43 if a person has a child in Ithaca.
This is the first time Cornell workers have gone on strike in decades, which will disrupt the process of first-years and other students moving in.
"My son is starting as a freshman, and our whole family is admiring Cornell University's beautiful campus and top-rated dining services,” Amy Traub, a UAW Local 2320 member, wrote on the social platform X alongside her son, who is walking the picket line instead of attending a first-year event.
“As a Cornell parent and also a proud member of UAW Local 2320 I'm calling on Cornell to offer a fair contract to the workers that make these things possible,” she added.
The university has responded to this criticism with a statement, saying that the vast majority of its endowment is restricted to specific purposes and that the university withdraws about $386 million per year from the fund, a withdrawal level regulated by New York state law.
"As we continue to make Cornell education affordable to more students and families in New York State and across the country, we cannot simply raise tuition to unmanageable levels to cover the cost," Lovely wrote in a statement.
Ithaca’s mayor, Robert Cantelmo, and other New York politicians have backed the UAW with public statements and by walking the picket line with workers.
"I stand with the UAW Local 2300 in bargaining for good wages and a fair contract,” Cantelmo wrote to The Hill in a statement. “Unions are the backbone of American labor. We are building a city where everyone, any background, any vocation, can live and thrive. As Mayor I will always support workers' rights, living wages, and a square deal."
