On Tuesday 6/11, we had our 6th bargaining session with WCM. During the session, we discussed several of the remaining non-economic articles, and we are pleased to report that we reached a tentative agreement on Union Access and Rights (see summary below), bringing us to a total of 14 TA’s. We also gave WCM counters on International Researcher Rights and Grievance and Arbitration. As always, full details of the proposals discussed are available on our bargaining tracker.
During the session, we were glad to see WCM express an interest in reaching a comprehensive agreement by the end of the summer. We believe this is achievable, and we recognize the efforts both sides have made so far. We also know that winning a fair contract was already urgent when we voted by an overwhelming 99% to form our union in November, more than six months ago. It is even more urgent now, as WCM has continued to fall behind competitors on workplace rights, pay, and benefits.
In order to reach a fair contract on this timeline, it is important that WCM cease efforts to weaken rights and protections that are standards for other unionized postdocs in NYC. Some of the areas where WCM’s efforts could reduce our rights to below what postdocs at Sinai won include: making our timeline to resolve grievances longer than what Sinai postdocs have in their contract; excluding disputes over PI status on grants from the grievance process entirely; reducing the number of different forms of discrimination that we would be protected against; and delaying responding to remaining job security-related articles, despite them being largely equivalent to what Sinai postdocs won in their agreement.
WCM has also reiterated that they are not available to meet with us between now and July 16, a delay of five weeks. We raised these issues and urged WCM to agree to more sessions in order for both sides to continue to make sufficient progress.
To reach a fair contract as efficiently as possible, it is important that we continue to show WCM that reaching agreements on these issues is urgent. You can help do this by joining our upcoming Bargaining Town Hall, which will be held at 1300 York room A-106 at 3pm on Wednesday, June 26. You can also sign up to observe a bargaining session to show WCM that we are paying close attention to progress in bargaining.
Your support and involvement are crucial to achieve a comprehensive contract as quickly as possible. As always, let us know if you have any questions or would like to get more involved with the efforts.
Summary of provisional tentative agreements:
Union Access and Rights: this article protects the union’s access to unit members, resources, and information to ensure that it can widely and effectively serve our postdoc community. It also allocates time for the union at new postdoc orientations, which will help inform incoming postdocs of their rights.
In solidarity,
Dagan Marx, Biochemistry
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee