Bargaining Committee Vacancy Election

Join us on Friday, March 20 to discuss how COVID-19 is affecting researchers.

With the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak only becoming more critical, we are converting our planned online town hall into a space to discuss how the crisis is affecting researchers, bargaining and what we can do as a union to support each other and the broader community. We will also give an update on how the evolving situation may affect our ongoing campaign for a fair contract.

If you have not yet, please take a minute fill out a short survey in regards to how you have been affected by COVID19 so our elected bargaining committee can have a better understanding of how researchers are being impacted.  

Best,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Online Town Hall this Friday:

RSVP for our Online Town Hall on Friday March 20th from 1:00-2:00pm.

With only three more weeks to go we encourage all PARs to participate in our campaign to secure a strong first contract. Please join members of the CPW-UAW organizing committee for an online town hall on where negotiations stand and how you and your coworkers can help. You can join from your computer if you want to follow along with the presentation or from your phone if you would just like to listen.

Take our COVID-19 Survey:

We were relieved to hear that Columbia has moved to significantly reduce the research operations during the COVID19 outbreak. In order for our elected bargaining team to have a better understanding of how researchers are being affected by the virus, please take a few minutes to fill out our short survey.

Our Letter to the Board of Trustees:

We also remain firmly committed to completing negotiations for our first contract by April 6. As we enter the last few weeks of negotiating our first contact we want to make sure that all Postdoctoral Researchers and Associate Research Scientists (PARs) are informed on where negotiations stand and are able to help move Columbia to agree to a fair contract. On Friday March 13th, 2020 our elected bargaining committee sent this letter to the Columbia Board of Trustees to communicate our willingness to continue to bargain a fair agreement, either in person or virtually.

We hope you can make it our town hall and please do let us know how you are being affected by the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

As the situation with COVID19 continues to develop, we are committed to working toward the safety and wellbeing of all members of our campus and wider community. We have been encouraged by Columbia’s efforts to address the concerns of students and the public. We hope that the administration will take further steps to ensure the safety of research staff and other members of the Columbia community as the situation continues to evolve.

We would like to hear any concerns you may have about the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on your work. If you have been affected by COVID19 in regards to travel, work authorization, childcare, or unexpected changes to your working schedule please click here to let us know.

We also remain firmly committed to completing negotiations for our first contract by April 6. Unfortunately, Columbia has so far been evasive about its shared commitment to reaching an agreement in the next month. In a recent bargaining session with Columbia we reiterated our willingness to bargain twice per week through the month of March to maximize our ability to reach a full agreement. While reacting positively, Columbia did not accept our proposal, instead communicating publicly on March 2 that “Going forward, we will begin meeting twice a week as we resolve remaining issues.” So far, however, the Columbia team has only agreed to meet once per week.  

We will continue to work to hold them accountable to their commitment to put in the necessary time, energy and work to reach a fair agreement by April 6th.

In the meantime, please let us know if you can make it to our next bargaining session this Wednesday, March 18th at 9:30am. While you do not need to stay for the whole time, attending bargaining sessions this month is an important way to urge Columbia to make progress as we approach April 6.

Upcoming bargaining sessions:

March 18th 9:30 am-1 pm at CUIMC, Hammer LL10

Monday, March 23 from 1:30 pm-5:00 pm at CUIMC, Hammer LL106

Friday, April 3 from 1:30-5:00 pm at Studebaker, room 469

Tuesday, April 7 from 9:30-1:00 pm at CUIMC, Hammer LL106

Best,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

With roughly four weeks to go before our April 6 deadline, we had another somewhat productive bargaining session yesterday. We reached two new tentative agreements (which would establish protections against retaliation for pursuing complaints related to the University’s Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Research Integrity policies) and made some limited new progress in our ongoing discussions on Grievance and Arbitration, Appointments and Union Rights and Access.  

As we move closer to our deadline, we have many issues to resolve but remain confident we can reach a fair agreement by April 6—as long as Columbia moves more quickly. The University provided no new proposals on our economic priorities yesterday, which was disappointing. We did make some progress on a few of the core provisions that will enable us to have a strong union during the life of our first contract. We – the Bargaining Committee and researchers across Columbia – will need to continue making clear to this administration that we want and deserve a contract that reflects the tremendous value we bring to this institution and establishes robust rights and protections that will help establish a more inclusive research community. See below for more details on the last session.

Grievance and Arbitration—Columbia made an important move by making the process shorter. But the University still has a number of provisions that do not exist in any other contracts at Columbia, that would make it more tedious and difficult to efficiently enforce rights when we have disagreements under the contract. This is arguably the most important article in the contract and we intend to continue fighting to have an efficient, fair process for addressing grievances.

Appointments—We have modified our proposal to seek one-year appointments, with reasonable efforts to provide advanced notification of renewal and non-renewal. Our proposal also includes stipulations for standardizing appointment letters so that new Postdocs have a clear understanding of their new position and accessible support in their new role.

Union Rights and Access—Columbia made a new proposal on this topic for the first time in months, a positive sign in itself, but the proposal still falls far short of what we can agree to. They offered for the first time to provide a list of the bargaining unit to the union on a regular basis, but the proposal has major flaws. Their proposal also continues to lack any provision of union access to orientations so that new researchers can learn about their rights under our contract when they start work at Columbia—this basic provision exists for most other workers at Columbia and will enable us to have the strongest possible union over time.

Tentative agreement on Copyright and Intellectual Property and on Research Integrity—In these two tentative agreements, we agreed to codify coverage and rights under the University’s policies and procedures in this area. While disputes in these areas will continue to be taken up under existing policies, we negotiated a new protection against retaliation for raising complaints or otherwise participating in any of these procedures. We also agreed that the Union-Management Committee may discuss the topic of how to address authorship disputes.Our next session is Wednesday, March 18th, 9:30am-1pm in Hammer Building Room LL106—please rsvp here if you would like to attend.

Best,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Please share your thoughts on bullying, harassment and discrimination at Columbia.

In our last bargaining session on Thursday, we did not reach any new tentative agreements, but had more constructive discussion around Compensation, Appointments/Reappointments, Leaves, Vacation, Intellectual Property, Grievance and Arbitration and No Strikes. At this stage, we see every session as critical time to discuss our differences and to keep working toward a satisfactory agreement. But since we do still have a number of major differences, we have asked the administration team to commit substantial time to bargaining sessions in the coming weeks so that we have sufficient time to find a path to a fair agreement by April 6. Please stay tuned for ways Postdoc and Associate researchers can get involved to help us build momentum to reach a fair first contract.

We have another bargaining session scheduled for tomorrow, March 9, and will provide a more detailed update after that session. Please rsvp here if you would like to attend.

Best,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Please click here to share your thoughts confidentially on why we need stronger protections on bullying, harasment and discrimination.

After more than one year of negotiations, we have reached agreement on some important topics that we believe will enhance life for Postdoc and Associate Researchers. But Columbia has still failed to agree to a full set of fair provisions addressing the core issues that motivated our overwhelming 68% majority vote to form our union. One example is stronger discrimination and harassment protections.

Postdocs and Associate Researchers (PARs) have made it clear throughout our entire campaign that we need stronger recourse against harassment, discrimination and bullying. Over the past year we have devoted countless hours to bargaining over this topic. Over 2500 PARs and graduate employees signed an open letter to Columbia demanding that the university make progress on this topic. Numerous union supporters have shared their personal experiences in bargaining sessions with the shortcomings of current procedures, and how the union can provide additional protections for researchers facing unfair treatment at work. We also know that researchers have communicated the importance of these issues in other university forums as well.

Columbia has made some important steps forward in our negotiations on such protections: agreeing that a researcher could take a grievance to a neutral arbitrator after exhausting the current process; and agreeing to form a campus-wide committee on bullying. But we still believe Columbia can and should do more to ensure a timely, effective set of protections against discrimination and harassment that can help establish a more inclusive research community.

As we continue working hard to reach a fair agreement by April 6th, your feedback and stories can help guide us during this critical time. Please share how you think stronger protections for Postdocs/ARS experiencing discrimination or bullying improve Columbia’s research mission.

Our next bargaining session is tomorrow, on Thursday, March 5th at 1:30pm-5pm in Studebaker 469. You do not need to stay for the whole time or arrive at the beginning, but please let us know if you plan to attend.

Click here to RSVP for our 28th bargaining session.

Best,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Sign our open letter asking Congressional representatives for support!

In bargaining Wednesday, we got the first serious indication that Columbia may be starting to listen to us. We reached one more important tentative agreement (Discharge and Discipline, summarized below), and the administration team finally gave us their first economic proposals. While these new proposals fall short in a variety of ways, we believe they represent a significant new starting point from which we can finish negotiations by April 6. But we also know that, in order to ensure that the administration puts in the necessary work to do so, researchers will need to continue standing up and taking actions to communicate our priorities for a stronger, more inclusive research community here at Columbia.

The University provided new proposals on Compensation and Leaves of Absence. On Compensation, the University proposed increases of 12.3% to 13.9% to minimum rates over the next two years, as well as guaranteed annual raises of 2% to 2.5% for those at or above minimum rates. As part of this proposal, Postdoctoral Research Fellows would move closer to parity with Postdoctoral Research Scientists/Scholars but still be compensated at a lower level. On Leaves of Absence, the University made a new proposal for four weeks of fully-paid paid parental leave for researchers who have worked at Columbia for at least one full year.

While we recognize that the University made significant movement in our direction with these economic proposals, they still fall short in a number of ways. First, the increases to minimum salaries do not make up for the fact that our salaries at Columbia have lagged far behind peer institutions in New York City for at least the last couple years. Second, under Columbia’s current proposal, Fellows would still be monetarily penalized for winning an award that brings prestige and money to Columbia. Third, Columbia has totally rejected our proposal to factor years of experience into pay rates—a concept that is common for other Columbia employees and for the NIH recommended minimum salaries. Fourth, we still have concerns about the length of paid parental leave and the 1 year eligibility period for it. Finally, Columbia did not make counter proposals on a number of our other economic proposals, like child care and professional development. We expect to have much more discussion of all of these concerns in upcoming sessions.

Tentative agreement on Discharge and Discipline. This article improves job security by establishing “just cause” protections against arbitrary discipline or termination, which means the University would need to establish good cause for a researcher to be fired or disciplined. The article also establishes new rights for international researchers by committing the University to make best efforts to expedite due process in cases where termination could jeopardize visa status.

Our next session is on March 5th—please rsvp here if you would like to attend.

In solidarity,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Sign our open letter to NYC area members of Congress calling for their support!

As we approach April 6, 2020, we will increase efforts to send Columbia a strong message to reach a fair contract that improves our working conditions and our lives. Postdoc and Associate Researchers are now signing onto an open letter to elected officials in NYC asking them to urge Columbia to reach a fair agreement by April 6.

Our research helps bring roughly $1 billion in research funding to Columbia and NYC every year, mostly from federal agencies like NIH and NSF. Yet, Postdoc and Associate Research Scientist salary minimums at Columbia have fallen far behind other major NYC research institutions which now pay at least $58,500 per year for a starting postdoc. The university has also consistently fought against ensuring timely processes to address harassment and discrimination and parity of compensation and benefits for Fellows. Columbia’s inaction threatens to make it more difficult to attract and retain the best researchers, undermining the university’s role as a source of academic and scientific progress for the broader public. Click here to add your name to our open letter calling for working conditions that support federally-funded research.

The more of us who attend bargaining sessions, the more we can show Columbia that reaching a fair contract is a priority for all of us. Our next session is this Wednesday, February 26th, in Studebaker 469, from 1:30pm to 5:00pm. Please click here to let us know if you would like to attend part of the session this Wednesday.

Best

Join us for a bargaining update town hall at the Lamont-Doherty Campus. Please RSVP here.

Our bargaining committee will be hosting a Town Hall at the Lamont Campus on Friday, February 21st, 1:30-2:30pm in the Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building, Seminar Room First Floor.

In our 26th bargaining session Wednesday, we signed two more tentative agreements (Health and Safety and Job Posting) and worked to get closer to agreement on a number of other outstanding proposals. Today’s agreements represent real progress on our rights as researchers and also help narrow the overall focus of our negotiations toward our core priority issues as we get closer to our April 6 deadline for a first contract.

We have been somewhat encouraged by the pace and focus of negotiations in our last two sessions; however, the University team still has so far failed to propose any of the kinds of improvements that would accomplish the priority goals that a majority of Postdocs and Associate Researchers have supported since we started bargaining nearly one year ago.

This session reminded us that we still have obstacles in our fight for fairness, excellence and equity. For example, a top University administrator once again tried to convince us that — despite substantial contrary evidence — Columbia provides fair and competitive postdoc compensation that compares well to other New York City research institutions. The administration team also continues to resist any meaningful discussion of our proposal for paid family leave, a critical component of our effort to enhance gender equity at Columbia.

See below for more detail on today’s session and upcoming opportunities to participate in our campaign for a fair contract.

Bargaining report from February 12. We signed two tentative agreements.

Health and Safety–This article codifies a contractual commitment by the University to follow OSHA and other standards to ensure a healthy and safe work environment, ensures that employees “will not be required to work in conditions that pose an immediate danger,” and establishes clear protections from retaliation for reporting health and safety problems. We also secured language committing the University to make reasonable efforts to address ergonomic concerns. In short, having these rights codified in our union contract improves our ability to address health and safety issues in a timely manner.

Job Posting–this article ensures that the university will continue following current policy regarding posting of available positions for Postdoctoral Research Scientists and Associate Research Scientists.

In addition to these agreements, our bargaining committee exchanged more proposals and had further discussion with Columbia on Appointments, Leaves, Intellectual Property, Union Access and Rights, Discipline and Union Security. We hope to make progress on these topics in our next session.

Regarding our overall goals, and despite their insensitive and out-of-touch comments regarding compensation, the university did indicate that they are hoping to have responses to our major economic proposals soon, hopefully by our next session. We hope that is the case so we can work diligently through March in an attempt to reach a fair agreement by April 6th.

Upcoming Sessions and Town Halls:

RSVP for the Union Town Hall at the Lamont Campus on Friday, February 21st, 1:30-2:30pm in the Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building, Seminar Room First Floor.

Our next scheduled session is Wednesday February 26th in Studebaker room 469 from 1:30-5:00. If you would like to attend, please let us know.

Best,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee