RSVP to attend one of our upcoming Bargaining Sessions!
During our thirteenth bargaining session with WCM, which took place on Monday, September 23rd, our bargaining committee proposed a set of economic articles for the first time. You can view the full set of our initial economic proposals in our online tracker.
Using information from our bargaining survey, as well as postdocs’ feedback from various town halls, one-on-one conversations, and working groups, we developed a comprehensive and equitable set of economic articles that would directly improve our working conditions.
The resulting feedback showed that the vast majority of WCM postdocs struggle financially while working at WCM. Our proposals are intended to address this major area of stress for postdocs, by aligning with recommendations from federal and local agencies, as adjusted to the cost of living in New York City.
With the exception of a few major unresolved disagreements over topics like discrimination and protections against unfair termination, where WCM continues to reject basic provisions that exist in other postdoc union contracts, we have been able to work constructively with WCM to reach a strong set of tentative agreements on rights and protections for our contract. This process has been expedited by both sides referencing the agreement negotiated by our unionized postdoc colleagues at Mount Sinai. The majority of our economic proposals are also modeled on those agreed upon between Sinai and their postdocs. However, because of the spiraling cost of living in New York City and the unique needs of the WCM postdoc community, we also made proposals at our last session that go beyond the standards set in the Mount Sinai agreement. We believe this is especially merited given the degree and length of time that WCM has lagged behind NYC’s cost of living and other institutions.
To highlight a few of these areas, we proposed a minimum salary of $85k with a wage scale that reflects both the years of postdoc experience as well as inflation and yearly cost of living adjustments. Considering the extremely competitive housing market in the city and the additional hurdles international postdocs face in trying to secure a decent living space, we included a provision that guarantees housing for the duration of the postdoc’s employment. Additionally, we proposed expanding paid parental leave to 16 weeks to enable postdoc parents time to bond and take care of their child. Additionally, we proposed to WCM to increase childcare subsidies and contribute to a dependent care flexible spending account to assist postdoc parents of school aged children in paying for afterschool and break care. For more details on our economic proposals and to keep up with the bargaining process over the next few weeks, please check out our bargaining tracker at this link.
Separately, we asked WCM for updates on their non-discrimination and expressive activity policies, which are directly linked to two pending proposals, namely Prohibition Against Discrimination and Academic Freedom. WCM could not provide an update on when these new policies would become available.
Finally, we proposed continuing to meet every two weeks to bargain over these topics, and offered 15 potential times for the month of October in order to make further progress. As we approach the one-year anniversary of our historic election, when a supermajority of postdocs voted by 99% to form our union, we will continue to strive towards an agreement on a strong first contract that would position WCM among the most competitive institutions in NYC for postdoctoral research talent.
Please join us at our Bargaining Session on Monday, September 30th (click to RSVP) to observe bargaining and hear more about pending non-economic proposals and WCM’s response to our initial economic proposals.
If you’d like to get more involved in organizing efforts, reach out to organizing@wcmpostdocunion.org.
In solidarity,
Sahar Jalal
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee