Cross-class coalition-building at Columbia University

    What does it take to organize across class lines? Students and workers at college campuses are increasingly having to find out.

    What does it take to organize across class lines? In the context of a nationwide revival of both labor struggles and student movements, students and workers at college campuses are increasingly having to find out. At Columbia University, students recently started to back a group of Faculty House workers who are fighting for a new contract. But what does solidarity mean at a university where students pay up to $60,000 a year, while campus workers can barely make ends meet? We hear from Osmond Cousin, who has been working as a chef at Columbia for the past 18 years, as well as Jane Brennan, an anthropology student who is one of the main organizers of the student-worker solidarity group. Cousin and Brennan share insights into how both groups have been building alliances in order to increase pressure on the university.



    Recent Stories

    • Analysis

    It’s time for movements to rethink social media

    August 13, 2026

    Movements can still find people on social media. But the real organizing has to happen somewhere else — and getting people there is the part we keep skipping.

    • Review

    Why bravery and heartbreak are essential to organizing

    August 11, 2026

    Reflecting on decades of organizing — from Occupy to Mamdani’s campaign — Yotam Marom’s book “For Louder Days” offers a powerful guide to making hard choices.

    • Q&A

    The inside-outside strategy behind New York’s rent freeze

    August 7, 2026

    Julie Xu, a tenant organizer in Chinatown, explains why a 20-year movement for a rent freeze pivoted — and built a coalition to elect Mayor Zohran Mamdani.