Tell Columbia University Trustees: Refund Lost Retirement Contributions

Over the past two years, postdoctoral and associate researchers, faculty, and other officers have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant impacts on their personal and professional lives. From the beginning of this global public health crisis, they have contributed to maintaining research, instruction, and administrative work across schools on all campuses, whether in-person or remotely, and in spite of all sorts of restrictions and risks. However, in December 2020 these workers, members of CPW-UAW Local 4100,  were informed that, in anticipation of an abrupt financial impact, the University would institute a temporary, one year, moderation of their retirement benefits, limiting the University’s total contribution to each worker’s retirement plan to the level of 5% of eligible compensation for calendar year 2021. This is a particularly pernicious thing to do to early career members, as it damages their future incomes right as they are starting to build a nest egg. While the measure was ended last August, workers recently learned that not only did the anticipated losses never materialize, but the University accumulated an operating surplus of $150 million and an endowment growth of 32.3% in FY2021. Click here to demand that Columbia University retroactively refund lost retirement contributions.