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The University’s team began by offering counterproposals. We were glad to see some progress, including reaching a tentative agreement on the Joint-Union Management Committee and moving closer to an agreement on Copyright and Intellectual Property. However, the progress did not go much farther than that.
On Appointments, despite acknowledging postdoc/ARS job instability and unpredictability over this past year, the University denied the issue of short-term appointments. The University’s team claimed the appointment data they provide us is incorrect, data that clearly shows that approximately one third of postdocs/ARS are on appointments of less than 12 months. We emphasized more stable appointments were among our top priorities according to hundreds of conversations and bargaining surveys filled out by a majority of postdocs/ARS. Columbia’s counter did include ensuring that reappointment letters be provided 60 days before the end of an appointment, but more is needed.
On International Employees, the University’s counter included offering Premium Processing for visa petitions, but only subject to departmental approval and “where necessary”. They also countered our proposal of 15 days of visa renewal leave with two days, framing this as a significant benefit and suggesting that maintaining valid work authorization, essential for continuing employment, is expected to come at the expense of employees personal time. Their counter did not address visa flexibility or other critical forms of support that would improve security for international employees.
We have created a survey to collect input from international employees to help strengthen our case at the bargaining table. The survey takes less than 5 min to complete: https://form.jotform.com/261066984187065
On Union Access, the University removed language about entitled time off to attend orientations because they stated this time is already protected as an officer of research. Columbia’s counter did not acknowledge the issue of sharing necessary information for us to effectively reach and represent members.
Finally, on Non-Discrimination, the University’s counter proposal added more prohibited forms of discrimination and harassment. On the process for actually addressing cases of discrimination, however, the proposal added caveats regarding the timeline for redress which seemed to extend an already lengthy process. Moreover, during questioning, the University at several points failed to answer questions, seeming to be confused by their own proposal. Their proposal also continues to delay defining anti-bullying and power-based harassment, and does nothing to increase the ability of workers to find solutions to bullying and harassment.
The University opened our third negotiation session stating they were ready to deliver a new contract by June 30th, but their proposals demonstrated they aren’t serious about addressing major concerns of postdoc/ARS around job stability and equitable employment. When confronted by these concerns during negotiations, the University’s representatives downplayed, distracted, and denied that these concerns were real. Columbia must do better.
You can find details on the proposals and counter proposals on our Bargaining Tracker.
What are the next steps?
We will be bargaining on several more dates! Please register to join a session here:
Monday, May 11th, 2:00PM – 5:00 PM, CUIMC in Hammer LL207
Thursday, May 21st, 12:00PM – 4:00 PM, CUIMC in Hammer LL 207
Thursday, May 28th, 12:00PM – 4:00PM, Studebaker in room 469
Monday, June 1st, 1:30PM – 5:00PM, CUIMC in Hammer LL 207
Friday, June 12th, 11:00AM – 3:30PM, Studebaker in room 469
We will continue adding additional bargaining dates in May and June as needed to ensure we can work with management to reach an agreement ahead of contract expiration on June 30th. Please join the slack channel to receive updates during bargaining sessions and to discuss the proposals and reactions by Columbia. Click here if you want to help with the campaign.
Solidarity,
Sam Seidman, Psychiatry
CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee |
