Help Us Improve our Rights on Paper Authorship and Intellectual Property!

WE ARE HERE TO LISTEN! WE ARE HERE TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS!

But first, let us guess…

  • By the end of your Postdoc experience, you’re 100% certain to have, at least, one sole first-author paper (and hopefully, a big one).
  • You are not sure whether your research could result in a patent…Or no, wait a minute! Actually, in the future you might be at the point of registering a patent, you’ve got good stuff going on in the lab right now…! But surely, your boss will respect your inventorship, as well as the royalties as an inventor. This is just common sense! Everything will be just fine…
  • You will leave the lab whenever you feel ready…, without risking your authorship in all the work that you have put in. Nothing important will be at minimum risk. When you feel ready to leave, your boss will be as well, and they will respect your work in the lab 🙂

But…What would the consequences be on your professional career if ANY of these assumptions turn out to be wrong?

Yes. We know.

No worries. Sit tight. We know you have a lot on your bench.

Academia does not need to be this way. The IP & Authorship Group of Postdoc Union will fight for our rights on Paper Authorship and Intellectual Property on the bargaining table with Columbia to develop contract language proposals that bring protection and equity to Postdocs/Associate researchers across the University.

But for that we need to listen to your story first!!!

We’re surveying Columbia Postdocs/Associate researchers on their experiences as Scientists related to rights and fair treatment on Paper Authorship and Intellectual Property to support our bargaining for our next contract with Columbia.

TAKE OUR SURVEY IN THIS LINK!

Or use the following QR Code:

Best,

The IP & Authorship Working Group

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Come to the CPW Winter Social!

CPW HOLIDAY PARTIES

Come join your union comrades to celebrate the season and get us through to bargaining with some fun and camaraderie! At two different locations:

CUMC Campus – P&S, Room 16-405 (Todd Amphitheater) – Wed Dec 14th

Morningside Campus – Fairchild, Room 900 – Thurs Dec 15th

Both from 5pm onwards!

RSVP HERE

SUPPORT NEW SCHOOL STAFF ON STRIKE – SIGN THE NO-SCAB PLEDGE!

As mentioned in previous emails, New School part-time faculty are out on strike right now for living wages, better health care, and workplace protections. But over this weekend, an email was leaked from New School Administration seeking to hire replacement workers and break the strike! This is unacceptable — join your union colleagues in signing the No-Scabbing Pledge to let the New School know we stand for better working conditions in academia.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

  •       Alvaro Cuesta-Dominguez
  •       Cora Bergantinos-Crespo
  •       Enrica Calzoni
  •       Fede Amodeo
  •       Panagiotis Oikonomou
  •       Pierre-Jacques Brun
  •       Sumaira Zamurrad
  •       Tulsi Patel
HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Your union colleagues developed policies to protect you – why won’t Columbia adopt them?

READ THE ANTI-BULLYING POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS HERE

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS & OTHER ACADEMIC WORKERS JOIN THE LABOR WAVE

Picket lines continued this week as the New School walked away from the bargaining table, leading to a surge in support for New School part-time faculty who are out on strike. Read more about what faculty are asking for here.

Meanwhile, our colleagues in California, including thousands of Postdoctoral Researchers, continue their  strike for living wages, raises that reflect rent increases, better job stability for postdocs, and a host of other proposals.

And large turnouts for bargaining are helping Mount Sinai Postdocs, who just recently unionized, negotiate a successful first contract that will ensure the wave of unionization for postdocs in New York City keeps improving working and research conditions, as it already has been!

Academic workers like postdocs are leading the charge to create a better academia through our collective power. Our union is only as strong as our members, so with our own collective bargaining coming up in months, now is the time to join your voice to those of your peers who are fighting for you.

TAKE THE BARGAINING SURVEY

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

  •       Alvaro Cuesta-Dominguez
  •       Cora Bergantinos-Crespo
  •       Enrica Calzoni
  •       Fede Amodeo
  •       Panagiotis Oikonomou
  •       Pierre-Jacques Brun
  •       Sumaira Zamurrad
  •       Tulsi Patel
HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Should Postdoctoral Fellows Receive Equal Treatment?

AND TAKE THE FELLOWS SURVEY!

ACADEMIC WORKERS ACROSS THE NATION ARE STRONGER TOGETHER & FIGHTING FOR MORE

This past week, nearly 48,000 academic workers across ten campuses in the University of California school system went on strike for salaries that match cost of living and more affordable childcare and housing, among other issues. This includes thousands of our colleagues at UAW 5810, the Postdoctoral and Academic Researchers at the University of California!

Meanwhile, here in New York, New School Adjunct Faculty (UAW Local 7902) have gone on strike demanding real raises, expanded health coverage, greater job security, and real recourse against harassment and discrimination — join their picket lines from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 63 5th Avenue in front of the New School University Center!

Just this month, NYU Adjunct Faculty, also with Local 7902, reached a landmark victory in their new contract, winning major raises, expanded health care coverage, and a host of other benefits.

This is an exciting time to be part of a national movement of academic workers pushing for change in academia together through our collective power. In our own negotiations with Columbia, it will be critical that a strong majority of us are signed on as members.

We will discuss events around the Journalism and Law Schools as well as updates from our Bargaining Committee and Organizing Committee, as well as the monthly finance report.

RSVP to attend via Zoom or In-Person

BY FRIDAY: MAIL YOUR BALLOT FOR UAW ELECTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP!

The UAW Monitor has recommended that members mail their ballots no later than Friday, November 18th, so that they arrive in time to be counted on November 29th.

If you are a member in good standing, please ensure that you put your ballot in the mail by this Friday so that your vote counts! Once you’ve returned your ballot, you can verify that it was received at the designated post office by entering the sequence number on your ballot and your last name here: https://uawvote.com/verify.

In this election we are voting for: the UAW President, Vice Presidents, Secretary-Treasurer, and Director of our Region, 9A.

You can learn more about the Regional Director candidates’ positions on these issues from this Forum our local alongside other Columbia UAW unions hosted with the candidates.More information can be found on the monitor’s website: https://uawvote.com/

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

  •       Alvaro Cuesta-Dominguez
  •       Cora Bergantinos-Crespo
  •       Enrica Calzoni
  •       Fede Amodeo
  •       Panagiotis Oikonomou
  •       Pierre-Jacques Brun
  •       Sumaira Zamurrad
  •       Tulsi Patel
HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Delays in Pay? No Healthcare Coverage? Columbia Should Do Better + Membership meeting 11/17 at 6:30pm

November membership meeting!

Thursday November 24th is Thanksgiving, a holiday recognized by our contract (as well as the day after) therefore, we will hold our membership meeting next week, on Thursday November 17th at 6:30pm, in hybrid mode: both in person at CUIMC and on zoom. Use one of the links below to RSVP. We will send a proposed agenda soon! But let us know if there is any topic you’d like to discuss.

RSVP TO ATTEND THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING IN PERSON

RSVP TO ATTEND THE MEMBERSHIP MEETING ON ZOOM

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Union Social this Thursday at Morningside + Ballots for UAW election

Join us to meet postdoc and Associate research colleagues for an orientation and social this Thursday Nov 3rd at 6pm in Fairchild room 800 on the Morningside campus, and also on zoom.

RSVP for an Orientation and Social!

Food and drinks will be provided. 

Didn’t receive your ballot for UAW elections? Request a replacement today!

This November, for the first time in the history of the UAW, members will directly decide who will lead our union on the International Executive Board (IEB), the leading instrument of UAW.

If you have not received a ballot in the mail by now you can request a replacement ballot at https://uawvote.com/newRequest  or by calling 855-433-8683 (their hours are Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm, and Saturday 9am-5pm). Please note that a replacement ballot may take about 7 days to get to you after you request one, and ballots should be returned in the mail by November 18 at the latest to ensure they are received by the November 28, the 2022 election deadline.

Make sure you participate in these historic elections and have your voice heard by casting your ballot!

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Report from Union-Management Committee

Appointments/Reappointments

Constant delays across departments leaves postdocs/ARS without pay, healthcare and other benefits sometimes jeopardizing workplace access and Visa renewal. 
We work effectively with OPA to correct the problem once it arises while requesting structural changes to prevent it from happening in the first place.
In response, Columbia leadership will implement some measures: notifying HR, the department chair and another officer 120 days before the end of the appointment.  
This is insufficient. We know researchers themselves have done this before and yet the problem remains.
Reach out if you learn about any delays in appointment/reappointment. We can help and collectively make sure that Columbia fixes this issue once and for all. 

Reach Out!

Postdoctoral Fellows benefits

Postdoc Fellows are still penalized, losing access to several benefits like retirement, tuition benefits and getting their healthcare taxed as imputed income.
Columbia has assured that any fellow who accrued 2-years as a non-fellow will access some benefits, but still have not guaranteed full equality for fellows.
Join our Fellows working group as we design language to ensure equality for our next contract campaign.

.

Join other Fellows in your Union

Academic Bullying

Several postdocs/ARSs reached out to the union after suffering bullying and power-based harassment. The problem persists and in most cases is just better for them to leave Columbia as we still lack tools to protect ourselves and our research.
Members of our union along with the union of Graduate Workers, Faculty and Administrators worked tirelessly for months to produce comprehensive recommendations for an anti-bullying policy.
The recommendations are now waiting for feedback from the Senate. We don’t have a clear timeline for its implementation.
Join our anti-bullying working group to design contract language to protect postdocs/ARSs when they need

Join our Working Group

Unit List and Dues/Fair Share Fee Deductions

Postdocs/ARSs at Columbia deserve to know their rights, to union protection and representation and our ability to collectively ensure fair and safe working conditions.
The university makes no effort to inform us all and also fails in providing us with accurate, updated, monthly lists of postdoc/ARSs working at Columbia, as they contractually agreed. We have received only 8 lists in 2 years (from 24 we are owed), with wrong location and start dates information and removing researchers without reason.
In addition, the university jeopardizes our collective power by not properly deducting the dues and fees that sustain our ability to inform, protect and advocate for our rights and to improve our working conditions.

Learn your rights and keep an eye for our next orientation!

Timesheet Trackers

Our contract ensures that we are paid for any unused Paid Time Off (Holidays, Vacations and Personal Days) at the end of the appointment. 

Some departments implemented burdensome timesheet trackers, with unclear policies blaming postdocs/ARSs when the requirement is delayed for reasons out of their control. 

We have requested that if departments implement timesheet tracking, the policy has to be adjusted to the reality of our working conditions and not cause unnecessary burdens. 

In solidarity,

Naeem, Erica, Stefano, Fede and Cora

[RSVP] October membership meeting: Thursday October 27th at 6:30pm

Our October membership meeting will take place on Thursday October 27th at 6:30pm in hybrid mode: both in person at CUIMC and on zoom. Use one of the links below to RSVP.

RSVP to attend the membership meeting in person.

RSVP to attend the membership meeting on zoom.

This is the last meeting before we will start analyzing the responses of the bargaining survey. However, we would like to get more people to fill them in order to have statistics on the majority of the people in our unit and not just a small part. For that reason, your help is crucial for our upcoming campaign to get more bargaining surveys filled. So please share them with your coworkers and let’s set our bargaining goals all together. 

At this meeting, we will be discussing the following topics: 

  • Union Management Committee meeting – where we have discussed issues with appointments/reappointment delays, difficulties for postdocs/ARSs to apply for grants as PIs, discrimination on access to benefits for fellows… 
  • Contract Topics Working Groups – on Fellows, Intellectual Property/Authorship, protections against bullying… Sign up if you are interested!
  • Organizing Training and Organizing Committee Events
  • Report from the rally against Abortion Rights

In addition, we will have our monthly Finances and Executive Board reports and discuss some important steps in preparation for our next contract campaign.

Finally, we want to share two sign-ons in support of the Iranian community: Co-Sign the Call to Action from CU’s Iranian Community, Co-Sign the Statement in Solidarity with Iranian Faculty and Students against State Repression.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Local 4100 Executive Board

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and join our Slack.

Union Update: Phone Bank Today and Member Meeting Next Thursday!

In preparation for bargaining our next contract with Columbia University, there are many Union events and happenings to be aware of – keep an eye out for a newsletter twice a month and be sure to sign up for email updates!

TAKE THE BARGAINING SURVEY HERE!

JOIN THE PHONE BANK ZOOM CALL HERE

Not a Member Yet? Join Your Co-Workers in Fighting for Equity, Inclusion, and Competitiveness!

Have an Issue? Get in Contact!
Want to stay informed? Check out our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.