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CPW Members Vote 90% Yes to Authorize a Strike!
CPW-UAW Post-Strike Authorization Vote Membership Meeting | Thursday August 27th at 5:00PM
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Report Back from the 2026 UAW Constitutional Convention
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Strike Authorization Vote | July 10 Membership Meeting Recap
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Bargaining Updates: After two-week contract extension, Columbia argues for no retroactive raises
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Bargaining Updates: Our response to Columbia’s latest “comprehensive” offer
In their “comprehensive” offer two weeks ago, Columbia rejected several of our proposals and made minor economic movements, while neglecting to engage on important workplace rights like job security and non-discrimination protections. As a whole, their new offer still fell far short of addressing the most pressing challenges postdocs/ARS face. Since then, we have worked on a response that re-asserts our priorities while making reasonable movement and agreements where possible.
In our 9th bargaining session this past Monday, we responded to their offer with a package proposal of our own in an attempt to continue making progress toward an agreement before our contract expires on June 30th, five days from today. Proposing this in the form of a package allows us to retain the right to make different proposals in the future, including reasserting positions we previously proposed, should Columbia not accept the package. We spent most of Monday’s session discussing and walking Columbia through the offer.
We fully reasserted our proposals on Parking & Transportation, Vacations, Union Access, Rights & Activity, pending further information and reasoning from Columbia. Here is a breakdown of where we made movement as part of the package:
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Compensation: We proposed a minimum salary scale starting at $85,000 for postdocs and $104,000 for ARS, with 4% anniversary raises, and reasserted language that would ensure time spent as Postdoc Fellow counts toward the two-year waiting period for the retirement benefit.
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Housing: We reasserted our previous language around expanding access to Columbia postdoc housing and improving transparency while proposing to not include the housing stipend, making clear this movement depends on Columbia providing economic support in other areas of the contract to address the extreme housing burden postdocs/ARS face in NYC.
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Appointments: We reasserted much of our previous proposal while including narrow exceptions for reappointments shorter than one year related to funding and work authorization, and proposed additional compensation be provided to any postdoc/ARS who is placed on a short reappointment to account for the precarity and stress that comes with that instability.
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International Employees: We reasserted much of our previous proposal while agreeing to alter and consolidate language around visa sponsorship and support from the ISSO in an attempt to address considerations raised by the ISSO in a previous session, and proposed 12 days of visa renewal leave.
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Non-Discrimination: We proposed having the right to grieve (appeal to a neutral third party arbitrator) when postdoc/ARS facing discrimination or harassment are not provided with sufficient interim measures. We also proposed to include the University’s new definition of bullying in the contract with a clear timeline for the process to address bullying.
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Childcare: We fully reasserted our language to increase the Childcare FSA to the federal cap of $7,500 and proposed to not include language memorializing the current backup care program should Columbia accept this offer.
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Hardship Support Fund: We proposed $2,500,000 for the Hardship Fund with a disbursement amount of $7,500 per postdoc/ARS and agreed to broaden what can be covered to “appointment-related expenses” after hearing from Columbia that this would cover immigration related expenses.
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Leaves of Absence: We proposed increasing parental leave to 12 weeks without our previously proposed language on sick leave in response to considerations about other forms of medical leave provided to postdocs/ARS.
In the session, Columbia’s team continued to insist we focus negotiations solely on compensation, though suggested some movement could be made on workplace rights and protections. They also insisted on comparing Columbia to institutions outside of New York City rather than peer institutions within the city that are outpacing Columbia on both compensation and workplace rights, like Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell Medicine. We emphasized that this package represents meaningful attempt to reach an fair agreement that addresses the biggest challenges postdocs/ARS face, should Columbia choose to accept.
We remain committed to reaching an agreement by June 30th, and believe that is possible if Columbia continues to join us at the bargaining table. The University has still not responded to our request for more bargaining dates before the contract expires. For now, our next scheduled bargaining session is TODAY (Thursday), June 25th at the Medical Center. Please RSVP here to join us!
Solidarity,
Ankit Roy, Biological Sciences
CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee
Bargaining Updates: Columbia makes minor economic movements while refusing to engage on housing, job stability
We met Columbia’s bargaining team on Friday, June 12th for our 8th bargaining session. The University brought another package proposal, which included some minor economic movement and little movement elsewhere. When we asked about proposals they did not respond to in their package, including Housing, Transit, and Leaves of Absence, the University’s answer was NO – they are completely rejecting our proposals for these articles. They also insisted that we focus negotiations on compensation, despite major workplace rights like job stability and non-discrimination protections being left unaddressed by their responses.
Here is an overview of the University’s proposals – you can find the full proposals in our public bargaining tracker here:
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On Compensation, Columbia is moving from 2% annual raises for all three years, to 2% this year and 2.5% in 2027 and 2028 – still down from the 3% anniversary raises we received in 2024 and 2025. They are proposing annual increases of the minimum postdoc/ARS salaries for 2027 and 2028, but capped at 1% per year, down from 1.5%. Minimum salaries for 2026 remain frozen at current levels.
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Their offer on Relocation Assistance remains at $1,750, up from $1,500.
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On the Hardship Fund, they have proposed $600,000 for three years, up from their previous proposal of $575,000. This is still very far from what is needed based on usage in the previous rounds. They are proposing to raise the disbursement amount per person per year from $5,000 to $6,000.
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On Vacations, they moved their proposed cap on payout for unused vacation days from 10 days to 15 days.
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On International Employees, little has changed from their previous proposal. They are continuing to insist on only 2 days of paid leave for visa renewal. They have increased the visa fee reimbursement amount from $1,250 to $1,400.
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On Childcare, the University reintroduced the side letter from our current contract that sets the amount of the childcare FSA at $5000.
At the session, we heard a testimonial from Manuel Beiran, a postdoc at the Zuckerman Institute and new parent, that underscores why the University should raise the childcare FSA to the new federal limit of $7500 and increase the length of parental leave. Manuel told the University’s team, “I love my work and feel fortunate to be part of Columbia’s research community, but no researcher should have to choose between having a family and maintaining financial stability. Those of us postdocs who have young children are especially vulnerable to the high cost of childcare and the loss of income that comes with parental leave.”
- On Non-Discrimination, their response includes language on a new University procedure to deal with bullying and power-based harassment, something we have been advocating for since before our first contract. However, their proposal provides NO timeline for the process, reasserts language that would make the process for addressing discrimination and harassment longer, and no clear avenues for seeking interim measures, leaving vulnerable postdocs/ARS with insufficient protections. To emphasize why we are advocating for clear and faster timelines and better protections in the form of interim measures, we heard a testimonial from a former postdoc Yunfu Shen. Yunfu’s testimonial described the discrimination and bullying he and his wife experienced when notifying their PI that they were expecting their first child.
We presented counters on Vacations and Transit in an attempt to address some concerns raised by the University:
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On Vacations, we included language that Employees should be encouraged to take vacation and that they will be notified of unused vacation days 60 days in advance of their appointment end date. We reasserted that there should be no additional caps on the number of unused days that can be paid out beyond the current contract language.
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On Transit, we added that shuttle services be maintained at ‘approximately’ the current levels to address the University’s concerns that minor changes in the shuttle service might cause issues due to the nature of operation.
We will be bargaining again tomorrow, June 22nd at 2PM in the Studebaker Building and Thursday, June 25th at CUIMC. Please RSVP here to attend!
Solidarity,
Anna Yoney, Genetics and Development
CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee
Bargaining Updates: Columbia makes minimal movement in first of back-to-back sessions
In our 6th bargaining session, we pressed Columbia to justify their refusal to bargain over critical economic proposals, such as Housing, Childcare, and Transit, and we brought a counter on Vacations to show we’re serious about reaching a deal. Columbia responded with another package proposal that included minimal movement, while continuing to insist on a freezing minimum salaries and cuts to guaranteed annual raises.
We communicated plainly and directly that while we appreciate the small movement the University is making in certain areas, these movements do not add up to a fair contract, and the clock is running out before our agreement expires. Here are some of the details on where they moved:
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On International Employees, Columbia partially accepted our language allowing premium processing fees when employment is at risk, but rejected protections against unreasonable denials, leaving significant inequities for postdocs.
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On Union Access Rights & Activity, Columbia accepted our language on protected time for union orientations.
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On Vacations, Columbia moved off their opening position. They had wanted to cut the payout for unused vacation from the current 23 days down to just 5. Their latest package caps the end-of-appointment payout at 10 days — still less than half of what’s in our current contract.
In the interest of showing good faith, we gave Columbia a counter on Vacations: we reasserted the current language on the number of days and accepted the University’s language on a more standardized documentation process.
To our disappointment, Columbia continues their refusal to engage on issues that are highly impactful to our reality living in NYC:
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Housing: the single largest expense most of us face, consuming up to 50-60% of a postdoc’s salary even in Columbia housing. Columbia says it won’t put a single word about housing in our contract.
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Transportation: including the Fort Lee shuttle that members fought to save. Columbia insists on retaining the right to cut shuttles as needed – effectively shifting financial burdens on to workers.
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Childcare: Columbia wants to strip the specific subsidy amount out of the side letter and has stated it has no intention of increasing it.
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Leaves of absence: we proposed 16 weeks and a fairer eligibility threshold. Columbia maintains that the current language is “sufficient.”
Of the other economic proposals they previously offered, including freezing postdoc/ARS minimums and cutting anniversary raises from 3% to 2%, Columbia’s package did not include any movement. Instead they insisted that these reductions are a generous offer, despite this being an effective pay cut given record increases in inflation, and unacceptable to members financially struggling in one of the most expensive areas of the country.
We will continue fighting for every one of these priorities. But what happens at the table depends on what we do away from it. Every inch Columbia has given, we won by mobilizing. This is proof that the pressure works and the way we close the rest of the gap.
We will be bargaining again this Monday at 1:30pm in Hammer building Room LL207, please RSVP here to attend!
Solidarity,
Daniel Savran, Preventive Medicine
CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee
Bargaining Updates: WAGE FREEZE! Columbia proposes a step backward with economic proposals
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