A group of postdocs delivered an open letter, signed by over 300 postdocs, to Dean Harrington calling for WCM to reach a fair and equitable contract.
Sign up for a WCMPU-UAW town hall on January 9th!
On December 16, we had our 21st bargaining session with the Weill Cornell administration. While we reached a tentative agreement on Academic Freedom, we continued to face major resistance from administration on several key provisions that would guarantee job security, higher wages, and more equitable and increased access to housing and childcare.
We proposed another set of counters to the proposals Weill Cornell shared last week. Our counters included moving down to a minimum compensation of $77,500, reasserting the need for an emergency support fund for financial hardship, relocation assistance, maintaining access to morning and evening shuttles from WCM housing, guaranteed access to WCM housing offered housing at least two months in advance of one’s start date along with alternate housing options if needed, rent caps of 2%, increased leaves including paid time for visa renewal, illness, bereavement, and a $5,000 childcare subsidy.
WCM largely rejected all these proposals and reasserted their initial offer for salaries and leaves, including no paid visa renewal leave, no emergency support fund or relocation assistance and reduced shuttle access to only evenings. They also rejected our proposal for guaranteed housing and instead proposed delaying the start date for postdocs if they are unable to be housed before their start date, which would unnecessarily delay people from being able to begin their postdoc and move to the city. You can follow our bargaining tracker to learn more about these proposals.
Additionally, WCM continues to push for a Probation Period that would allow the administration to unfairly discipline or fire a postdoc without for the first three months of our employment at WCM.
At this stage, more than a year after we voted to unionize, It is becoming increasingly clear that we need to do more to show Weill Cornell how urgently postdocs need a fair contract that makes WCM more equitable by significantly improving and the quality of work and life for the the most precarious members of our postdoctoral community at Weill Cornell, including parents, international scholars, and those without access to WCM housing. In this regard, the Organizing Committee delivered a letter signed by 300 postdocs to the Dean today, conveying our concerns with the progress in negotiations and the urgency of our demands.
Please join us at the next bargaining session with administration on January 6, from 12 – 4 pm, and also join our upcoming town hall on January 9, either on campus or Roosevelt Island.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts, and wish all of you a peaceful and happy holiday season.
In Solidarity,
Krithika Karthigeyan, Pediatrics
WCMPU-UAW Bargaining Committee