by Alexandra Martinez This article was originally published at Prism Six weeks after it began, the student workers’ unfair labor practices strike at Columbia University has become the largest ongoing labor strike in the nation. The union has been on strike since Nov. 3, with workers calling for higher wages and more protections for graduate and undergraduate student workers. As decided by the National Labor Relations Board, the union comprises undergraduate and graduate students performing instructional services such as teaching assistants, and all graduate research assistants. According to the union, many of their members are international students, caregivers, first-generation college students, or low-income students who are working as teaching assistants to help finance their education. Without a living wage, they can’t afford their education, let alone living in New York City. “So many of us came to New York relying on Columbia to take care of us,” says Ayesha Verma, an English and comparative literature Ph.D. student from India and union member. “It’s just sad that Columbia doesn’t seem to be wanting to support us.”   Read more