RSVP to attend one of our upcoming Bargaining Sessions!
During our fifteenth bargaining session with WCM, which took place onTuesday, October 15th, WCM shared counter-proposals to 3 more economic articles: Wellness, Professional Development, and Insurance Benefits. In each of these articles, WCM made negative changes to our proposals, which we drafted to significantly enhance the postdoc experience at WCM.
In the Wellness article, WCM rejected both our proposal to allow postdocs to use the gyms in Lasdon and Olin Halls near campus, and our proposal to provide mental health resources for postdocs equivalent to that provided to graduate and medical students, and other unionized postdocs in NYC. In Professional Development, WCM proposed that funding for related activities should be subject to approval by the PI instead of provided by the college. Finally, WCM rejected our proposal to have the full cost of oocyte cryopreservation be covered by insurance. These counters to our proposed articles would serve to block efforts by the union to increase access to resources that would improve the experience of postdocs at WCM. We explained that postdocs have discouragingly poor mental health, as reported in the NYC Postdoc Coalition survey, and that the versions of the articles that we proposed would both increase postdoc wellbeing and productivity, and make WCM more competitive with surrounding institutions. Postdocs voted by 99% to form our union because we were not satisfied with the status quo.
WCM again stated that they would aim to provide responses to our remaining economic proposals at the next meeting on October 30th from 12pm-4pm. You can view the full set of our initial economic proposals in our online tracker. As we approach the one year anniversary of our union being certified, it’s urgent that WCM makes greater progress towards reaching a fair agreement. The more of us who participate in our campaign, the more effectively we can achieve this. If you’d like to get more involved in our contract campaign please reach out to organizing@wcmpostdocunion.org.
In solidarity,
Dagan Marx
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee