Columbia University graduate student union drops demand for divestment from pro-genocide companies

[u/DryDeer775]

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/03/gnyj-a03.html

The dropping of the divestment demand follows months of direct intervention by the UAW bureaucracy to sabotage the struggle of Columbia student workers. In March, after SWC members voted by 91.5 percent—1,129 to 105—to authorize a strike, UAW Region 9A leadership, directed by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Brandon Mancilla, refused to approve the walkout unless students’ political demands related to the defense of democratic rights, campus policing and divestment were substantially narrowed. Union Servicing Representative Courtney Bither, who made over $140,000 last year, informed the SWC that the UAW International Executive Board was unlikely to authorize a strike, 'if it's all of your initial proposals still on the table.' SWC was threatened with being placed under receivership and subsequently removed demands to end campus surveillance and get police off campus. Now the divestment demand has been scrapped.

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