Join us at 5:30 pm on Friday, April 19th for a social at the Hunterian!
Yesterday, members of our elected bargaining committee and representatives from the UAW met with the Weill Cornell administration for our second bargaining session. We proposed a range of articles establishing non-economic rights and protections that are critical for Weill Cornell postdocs. We are pleased to report that we reached a tentative agreement (TA) with WCM on our first article, Severability (see below)!
We began the session by answering WCM’s questions about our proposals. While most of these questions were informational, we were surprised at WCM’s suggestion that we alter our proposals to avoid referring to unit members throughout the contract as “Employees.” We explained that this language is important to avoid confusion about our role at WCM. We are now waiting for Weill Cornell’s response on this question, as well as on our other proposed articles. You can follow our progress with bargaining through the Bargaining Tracker which is also accessible through our website, and read a summary of the passed proposals below.
Our next bargaining session is scheduled for May 1st, from 12-4pm, where we intend to propose remaining non-economic articles, as well as hear counter proposals and responses from WCM. Both parties have agreed to keep communication open in the interim between sessions in order to make bargaining as efficient and timely as possible.
Click here to RSVP to our next bargaining session!
To hear more about yesterday’s session and to celebrate our progress with bargaining, please join us for a social at 5:30 pm on Friday, April 19th at the Hunterian (413 E 70th St)!
Finally, it was great to see more than 40 postdocs from across departments at today’s session supporting our Bargaining Committee as observers! We appreciate your time and commitment to this process as we work towards getting a strong first contract.
Summary of WCMPU-UAW Proposals:
Recognition: would codify official recognition of WCMPU-UAW
Appointment Security: would guarantee position and conditions of the appointment throughout its length.
Appointments and Reappointments: would establish minimum appointment and reappointment lengths, timelines and content for notifications of offers of appointment and description of assignment.
Discipline and Dismissal: would create a fair process for progressive discipline in the case that the institute is contemplating disciplinary action, and ensures access to pay and benefits while a grievance is ongoing.
Employment Records: would ensure access to and rights to accurate employment records.
Grievance and Arbitration: would create a process in which provisions in the contract can be enforced. This article would allow Employees to take a grievance to a neutral third party if they were unable to reach a satisfactory resolution with the institute.
Health and Safety: would ensure access to resources and equipment required to maintain adequate health and safety standards in the workplace.
International Researcher Rights: would disclose available visa options and ensure support for visa and Green Card processing, immigration, and stronger protections for international researchers.
Job Posting: would ensure fair and transparent policies for the hiring process for postdoc positions.
No Strike No Lockout: would prevent work stoppages during the term of the agreement.
Performance Reviews: would ensure access to yearly formal performance review procedures.
Policies and Procedures: would ensure enforcement of current institutional policies and outlines processes in case of conflict or changes to current policies.
Severability (TA): would protect remainder of contract if one provision is declared unlawful and ensure our right to bargain over any impacts.
Training: would ensure that postdocs are paid for all time spent at trainings.
Travel: would allow Employees to request specific forms of travel support and ensure access to timely reimbursement or advanced payment for work-related travel.
Union Access and Rights: would provide the union with the necessary information and access to the workplace to ensure that members of the bargaining unit are represented.
Union Security: would ensure that postdocs contribute equally to the cost of representation.
Union Management Committee: creates a joint committee between the union and WCM to meet regularly during the life of the contract on matters related to our contract.
Workload: guarantees that work schedule will be reasonable, related to research needs, and agreed upon with the Employees, and also provides the right to disconnect.
Workspace and Materials: would ensure that WCM provides space, materials, equipment, and facilities necessary for Employees to perform our work.
As always, please reach out to us with any questions or thoughts.
In solidarity,
Krithika Karthigeyan, Pediatrics
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee