The Strike Weapon: Can It Still Work?

On February 22, 1996, two hundred Barnard College clerical workers, members of UAW Local 2110, walked off their jobs, protesting the college’s insistence that they pay more for health insurance and switch health plans. Barnard, and Columbia University with which it is affiliated, have seen more than their share of strikes over the years, but most have been one- or two-day affairs. This time, events did not follow the old script. With the Barnard administration displaying a newfound toughness, for two weeks the chants of picketers disrupted business, professors held classes off campus, and sympathetic students demonstrated. On March 6, the strikers returned to work in “a gesture of good faith,” but after negotiations sta...