They will strike if they have to: The UAW’s tough negotiating tactics come to Cornell

ITHACA, NY — The United Auto Workers Local 2300 union has signaled that it is prepared to strike if Cornell University does not meet workers’ demands in an ongoing collective bargaining agreement.

The warning came after about four months of negotiations between Cornell and the union, but that period has shown that the two parties appear to have different ideas about what constitutes a reasonable employment contract.

UAW organizer Jorge Rodriguez said at a union rally on the Cornell University campus Tuesday that a strike has been “on the table” since negotiations began, but he called it a “last resort” if Cornell does not meet workers’ demands.

“If the university does not meet the needs of the workers, our only option is to strike,” Rodriguez said. “And this time, the workers are ready.”

The union represents nearly 1,200 Cornell employees in a bargaining unit that also includes janitors, food service workers and bus drivers. These workers are critical to the operation of the university’s campus. A strike is looming at the start of the upcoming academic year. All of the nearly 16,000 students who attend Cornell are expected to arrive on campus in August.

When asked for comment on the collective bargaining and a possible strike, a university spokesperson said Cornell and the UAW met almost daily in June and July. The current collective bargaining agreement expired on July 1.

“We continue to negotiate in good faith and are determined to reach a fair and reasonable contract,” the spokesman said.

The UAW’s tough stance in Ithaca is consistent with the stance union president Shawn Fain has taken since his election as president in March 2023.

The UAW’s tough tactics have made big news and secured union contracts with historic wage increases for workers at major U.S. automakers. Now UAW officials have promised to negotiate a “record contract” for Cornell workers.

Janitors starting at Cornell this year can earn between $20.03 and $21.99 per hour under the current contract. Food service workers can earn between $19.17 and $23.81 per hour.

The UAW’s contract with Cornell uses a tiered system. Employees who started at the university before June 30, 1997, receive higher wages than their counterparts for the same work. A janitor who earned $21.99 an hour would instead earn $26.12 if he had started at Cornell before the tiered system’s deadline.

Eliminating the tier system and increasing wages for all university employees is a key issue for the union. Lonnie Everett, international representative for UAW Region 9, said he has seen tier systems divide the interests of a bargaining unit.

“You mean that I, who am doing this job now, am worth less than the person who was here ten years ago? We do exactly the same work,” said Everett. “Why should I earn less?”

On July 11, the UAW bargaining team posted an update on the contract negotiations online. The bargaining team called the university “undecided” on a wage increase plan it proposed that would give Cornell workers in the bargaining unit an 80-cent-per-hour raise in the first year and a 60-cent-per-hour raise in each of the following three years.

Rodriguez said the union is seeking “reasonable” wage increases, which he believes would be “between 25 and 30 percent” over the next four years.

The university did not respond to a request for comment on the competing salary increase proposals.

Billy Jo Heffron, a food service worker at Cornell University, said she grew up in the Ithaca area, but stagnant wages and rising housing costs forced her to move out of Tompkins County entirely. She said she now lives just across the border in Tioga County.

“I’m 45 years old and single and I just can’t afford to live in the city I grew up in,” Heffron said.

Heffron said she worked as a dental assistant for 15 years and had side jobs in the restaurant industry. She said she believed that by taking a job at Cornell a few years ago, she would have a more regular schedule and no longer have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

However, she says she now earns “a lot more for a lot less” than she used to earn in the restaurant industry.

“In my opinion, we either get a significant raise or I just leave. It’s just not worth it to me,” Heffron said.

Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo has pledged his support to the UAW. He spoke to about 80 people at Tuesday’s rally.

“If Ithaca claims to be a community where anyone can live, anyone can choose that identity and anyone can succeed here, we need to make sure people are compensated for that,” he said.

In an effort to promote what the UAW calls a reasonable contract, organizers have sought to focus attention on the contract negotiations, highlighting the university’s $9.6 billion endowment, tuition revenue and the highest compensation Cornell pays.

This tactic reflects the UAW’s emphasis on record profits for automakers as it fights for higher wages for workers at these companies.

Between June 2022 and June 2023, Cornell generated over $904 million in tuition revenue and ended the year with over $1.4 billion in assets, according to the university’s audited financial statements for fiscal year 2023.

During the same fiscal year, Cornell investment chief Kenneth Miranda received more than $2.6 million and former Cornell President Martha Pollack received more than $1.5 million, according to the university’s tax returns. The university’s top earner was Zev Rosenwaks, the director and chief physician of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the medical school in New York City, who received more than $9.5 million.

Workers are also pushing for free parking, another major point of contention between the school and the union.

It is notoriously difficult to find a suitable parking spot on Cornell University’s sprawling main campus. Cornell employees said at Tuesday’s rally that many of them pay the university for parking in order to be within reasonable walking distance of their workplace. The cost of an employee parking permit can range from $360 to just over $1,000, according to Cornell.

The university offers free parking, but staff said the parking lot they can use for free is too far from most workplaces on campus. A bus runs from the free parking lot across campus to bring staff closer to their workplaces, but staff described the bus as unreliable and often the reason for their lateness.

Jackie Aarne, a janitor at Cornell University, said the “stigma” and potential penalties for being late forced her to pay for parking. She said she pays about $800 a year for her employee permit.

“$800 a year in parking fees is a big chunk of money, especially if you have a family,” Aarne said.

At Tuesday’s rally, several workers said they had no qualms about going on strike to get the collective bargaining agreement they say they need.

Cullen Boyer, a food service worker at Cornell University, said he was “110 percent” ready to strike if necessary.

“People are tired of being treated like dirt,” Boyer said. “You can only ignore your employees for so long, and eventually they’ll come back and say, ‘Hey, I’m here and you need me, so give me what I deserve.'”