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On Wednesday we met with the WCM administration for our sixteenth bargaining session. We began the session by asking whether WCM had prepared responses to the remaining economic proposals we made more than a month ago, on September 23rd, which include Compensation, Housing, Leaves, Parking and Transportation, Childcare, Relocation Assistance, and Emergency Support Fund. You can view the full set of our initial economic proposals in our online tracker.
The administration’s team explained that they did not yet have counter proposals on these topics. Instead they said that they wanted to discuss a shared approach to negotiating over economic issues. WCM highlighted our mutual agreement from the start of bargaining to model non-economic rights and protections on the terms won by our unionized colleagues at Mount Sinai. WCM concluded that this approach had made it possible to reach agreements more quickly than we would otherwise have been able to, and stressed their desire to reach an agreement quickly. They then went on to ask that we use a similar approach with economic topics, including modeling economic improvements like those outlined in the Compensation article on what the Sinai postdocs won in their agreement.
We explained that we understood their intention is to reach economic agreements modeled on the Sinai postdoc contract. We also made clear that reaching a fair contract is incredibly urgent for postdocs, which is why we have been willing to use our unionized Sinai colleagues’ contract as a starting point for almost every one of our proposals during these negotiations. However, we also made clear our commitment to making improvements beyond the Sinai contract where appropriate, including in areas other than compensation, such as housing, childcare, and leaves, all of which significantly affect our ability to live, work, and thrive in NYC. This is especially true for those of us who face the biggest obstacles to success in academia, like parents, underrepresented minorities, and those without generational wealth. We explained that in order to reach a fair agreement, we must also strive for progress in these areas, because they are key to making WCM more equitable, inclusive, and competitive.
We also expressed concern that despite WCM’s rhetoric about matching the Sinai postdoc contract, they have continued to push for a probation period, which would allow WCM to unfairly terminate postdocs at the start of our appointments, when most of us have just arrived in the U.S. This provision is not included in the Sinai postdoc contract, or in any other postdoc union contract, and is completely inappropriate for postdocs at WCM. In response to these points, WCM proposed a modified Probation Period article which contained very minimal movement (reducing the probation period from four to three months). We will continue to fight back against WCM’s efforts to make our positions more vulnerable and insecure than those of our colleagues at Columbia and Mount Sinai.
Towards the end of the session we urged WCM to make counter proposals as quickly as possible, reiterating that our priority is reaching a timely agreement that also makes reasonable improvements to industry standards for unionized postdocs. In response, WCM agreed to make counter proposals on the remaining economic topics at our next session on November 12th, including on Compensation, which they confirmed will involve minimum salaries matching those won by Sinai postdocs. Disturbingly, WCM also suggested that where our benefits are worse than Sinai postdocs have in their contract, they would try to keep these worse benefits. It is clear that we will have to continue pushing back WCM’s efforts to keep our benefits below those at other NYC institutions.
Our union was certified on November 30th, 2023. As we approach the one-year anniversary of our union being certified, it is increasingly 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 respond to this email or reach out to organizing@wcmpostdocunion.org.
In solidarity,
Dagan Marx
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee