Throughout our contract campaign a majority of postdocs and ARSs at Columbia have become members. This has given us the collective power to win a contract securing $10k increase to the minimums + at least 3% increases per year, guaranteed; more workplace protections for Internationals, Fellows and a Hardship Fund to help you face unexpected financial hardships. And overall, we have strengthened our voice as researchers at Columbia!

JOIN THE MAJORITY AND BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

According to our records, you have not made a decision yet, follow the link above and accept or decline membership! Everyone covered by our contract has to choose between becoming a member or declining membership and paying fair-share fees! A majority of postdocs and ARSs at Columbia have already chosen to become members. Make your choice now!

New Year, New Contract – More Rights and Higher Salaries

It’s an exciting time for postdocs and ARSs at Columbia – we recently ratified our second contract, securing $10k increases to the minimums + 3% guaranteed increases per year. That is up to 24% increases through June 2026!, In addition, we won new protections against bullying, reimbursements for visa expenses, and a brand new hardship fund!

SEE ALL THE NEW CHANGES HERE

Reach us out at postdocunion@uaw4100.org if you did not get any of the promised benefits

These wins were built on collective power, meaning we all worked together during the last year to get where we are now. But obviously, this does not stop with just the contract campaign. We are now in the process of ensuring that Columbia University implements all these changes, including raises, visa cost reimbursements, and setting up the hardship fund. This means maintaining and building our power to continue building our union strong into the future, and using this power to enforce and fight for our rights. To do that, we need your help!

Membership Drive: Making Sure Everyone Contributes Equally

A key part of being a union is right there in the name: Unity. We are collectively representing almost 1,700 researchers at Columbia, all of whom have since November gotten higher salaries, more protections, and better rights. We will always work together like this, but it is important that EVERYONE contributes towards our goals of making this a better working place.

As a reminder, everyone covered by our contract has to choose between either becoming a member or declining membership and paying fair-share fees. Become a member today following this link!

Membership dues and fees are crucial to support our operations – to provide the resources that enable us to continue to represent all Postdoc/ARSs effectively by paying for negotiation, administration, and enforcement of our contract; legal representation, arbitration, research, and technical support; campaigns and related costs (such as events, legal fees, etc).

As a member you will have the right to participate in decisions about how we spend these economic resources. You only pay dues or fair share fees for the time you are employed as a Postdoc/ARS by Columbia.

The financial difference between membership or declining is small but the difference to our collective power is huge: ensuring a continued majority support for our union will give us more power to enforce our new rights and continue fighting for improvements.

Over the next weeks, union organizers will be contacting members, to check in and assist with any issues related to contract implementation, and to check in on membership. Note that it is a condition of employment that all Columbia employees covered by our contract choose to either sign up as a union member or decline membership and pay fair share fees to cover the cost of representation – so you must make a decision soon! Make your choice in this link.

We look forward to working with you all in this next exciting phase of our union, implementing our new contract and continuing to pursue campaigns that advocate for the rights that all postdocs and ARS’s deserve.

Sincerely,

Your friendly local Executive Board and Organizing Committee

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