Sign up for a WCMPU-UAW town hall on Thursday, January 9th (on campus or on Roosevelt Island)
On Monday, January 6, we held our 22nd bargaining session with WCM, where we discussed several important provisions that would guarantee protections against discrimination, access to housing, leave, and childcare.
This was our first session of 2025, and the first since the WCMPU-UAW Organizing Committee delivered a letter signed by 300 postdocs to the Dean, conveying our concerns with the progress in negotiations. During the session, we reiterated the importance of reaching a fair contract soon and the urgency of our demands. Unfortunately, WCM continued to reject key elements of our proposals in the session, while expressing openness to discuss further.
At the session, WCM put forth a counter on leaves, where they informed us for the first time that WCM does not treat postdocs as eligible for New York State Paid Family Leave (NYS PFL), which provides job-protected, paid time-off to care for and bond with a newborn. This is a benefit available to other employees at WCM and to postdocs at other NYC institutions, including Sinai and MSK.
WCM also continues to refuse to match the 15 sick days in Sinai’s contract, insisting that extra sick days would be costly to WCM. We asked questions about why WCM thinks we should have less sick days than our colleagues at Sinai and why they would prefer us to come into work when we are sick. WCM said they would consider these points.
WCM also continued to reject our proposal for paid time off for renewing visas. We explained that this is a major source of inequity for the majority of postdocs at WCM who are international and must travel abroad regularly to renew their visas, using their vacation days for immigration purposes. WCM said they would consider these points and respond.
On Housing, we reiterated our proposal that WCM provide housing offers to all postdocs 2 months before their employment start date, or provide alternative housing options. Instead, WCM has proposed delaying the start date for postdocs in cases where they are not offered housing. We explained that we believe this proposal forces postdocs to choose between delaying their ability to begin the next step of their career for an unknown period, and moving to the city on time with a much higher rent burden. WCM acknowledged that this was an issue and said they would discuss further. WCM also continues to refuse to consider capping annual rent increases at 2%, a provision that would help address skyrocketing housing costs.
We also discussed WCM’s most recent proposal on Prohibition Against Discrimination and Harassment. In their counter, WCM proposed language that would weaken protections that we agreed to in negotiations over five months ago, and would require postdocs to wait until the conclusion of WCM’s current process for harassment complaints prior to being able to resolve issues through our grievance process. This process would unnecessarily delay our ability to resolve complaints and could also take an undefined amount of time, so we rejected this proposal. We appreciated WCM’s movement in other areas of this article, and believe we could be close to an agreement with the exception of these regressive changes.
Overall, WCM continues to reject many basic provisions that our colleagues at Sinai have in their contract. While they expressed openness to continuing to discuss the concerns we raised, they made no commitment to reaching agreements that reflect core priorities articulated by the majority of postdocs. It is therefore critical that we continue to convey to the administration the issues are urgent to postdocs.
To discuss next steps in our campaign to win a fair contract, please join our upcoming town hall on Thursday, January 9, conveniently held at two times (on campus at 3pm, and at 465 Main Street at 7pm).
Additionally, please join us at the next bargaining session with administration on Tuesday, January 14, from 11:30am – 3:30pm. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts, and wish all of you a happy new year.
In Solidarity,
Krithika Karthigeyan, Pediatrics
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee