Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Cynthia Nixon marched alongside striking Columbia University graduate students on Monday, but her time on the protest line was mostly spent answering questions about releasing her income taxes, film and TV tax credit programs and other topics.
Nixon promised to release her taxes, saying they were “complicated.”
“I think I file in nine different states,” she said. “They’ll be out this week.”
The “Sex and the City” star also said she has “no interest in getting rid of the film and [TV] tax credit” program, despite her recent comments questioning its usefulness.
Columbia’s graduate students, who are members of the United Automobile Workers union, started the strike last week — angry that the university has refused to bargain with them.
“These graduate students have overwhelmingly voted to unionize,” Nixon told reporters. “Everyone deserves the right to collective bargaining to advocate for their own wages and benefits.”
Monday was the last scheduled day of the strike. Union organizer Olga Brudastova, a teaching assistant, said they are ready to strike again if Columbia does not come to the bargaining table.
“We have long supported unions and have more than a dozen collective bargaining agreements with unions representing thousands of university employees,” said Caroline Adelman, a spokeswoman for the university. “But we believe that student teaching and research assistants who come to Columbia for an education are not ‘employees’ under the law.”
