Thanks for your feedback

Thank you all for attending a town hall on our upcoming bargaining committee elections and for your helpful feedback on the size and composition of the committee and the election timeline.

In the discussions there was agreement on the timeline and that a committee composed of seven members was appropriate. However, overall, a clear preference for candidates running at-large rather than based on jurisdiction emerged. Based on this, we plan to move ahead with seven at-large candidates for our first bargaining committee.

We feel confident we can elect a strong, representative, and successful bargaining committee like those at other universities with similarly diverse workforces. We also look forward to implementing some of the additional ideas we discussed that will help ensure an effective and representative bargaining committee, regardless of who gets elected. These ideas include town halls, issue-focused meetings, working groups for specific topics, additional surveys, as well as maintaining a strong organizing committee. Implementing these items together will help keep us all informed of what is happening at various points in our negotiations.

The next step is to send out a notification of nomination, after which anyone who chooses to run will have the opportunity to accept the nomination and begin their campaign to be elected. If you are interested in running for the bargaining committee and would like to learn more about the responsibilities involved, or talk to someone with first-hand experience of the bargaining process, please feel free to reach out.

Thank you,

Steven Cook (Department of Biological Sciences)
Tulsi Patel (Pathology and Cell Biology)
Andrew Zaharia (Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute)

 

Support from NY City Council Progressive Caucus

We are excited that our mandate for collective bargaining has gained national press attention as well as support from elected leaders right here in New York City.

Check out our news coverage from around the country including new outlets such as the Washington Post, Inside Higher Ed, the NY Daily News and more.

Our election has also received the attention of local elected officials. Yesterday, we joined City Council member Ben Kallos in delivering a letter signed by 18 members of the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council to President Lee Bollinger and the Board of Trustees.

The letter urges the University to respect our 68% mandate for collective bargaining and to bargain with the graduate employees who voted 72% yes for their union.

We hope that after weeks of conversation about collective bargaining amongst our campus community that our decision to vote yes for CPW-UAW as our union will be respected by the University.  

As we continue to prepare for bargaining, please fill out a union bargaining survey if you have not yet done so. The more postdoctoral researchers that participate in the bargaining survey, the stronger and more representative contract we will be able to bargain with the university.

Best,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

We Voted Union Yes!

 

The NLRB just finished counting ballots and we voted by an overwhelming 68% (729-yes to 339-no), in favor of Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-UAW as our union.

We will have more information soon regarding next steps in our campaign.  For now, we want to thank everyone who has participated in this historic election and for the last two years leading up to it.  Together, we have truly generated an unprecedented discussion of the importance and value of our work as postdocs and associate research scientists.

If you have not yet done so, please take a few minutes to fill out the postdoc union bargaining survey.

The more of us who participate in the bargaining survey, the more power we will have to negotiate a strong, representative contract with Columbia.

Thank you,

CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

Town halls about the process of unionization

We are very excited that our election on unionization  is less than one week away on October 2nd and 3rd. We have a historic opportunity to vote ‘yes’ and secure our ability to bargain a fair contract with the university administration and secure protections and improvements into a binding contract.

RSVP here for the postdoctoral researchers union town halls.


Please join us today and tomorrow at our town halls to hear about the process of unionization, details about our election and Q&A.

We will also be joined digitally by a unionized postdoc who was on the most recent bargaining committee at the University of California. UAW Local 5810 has negotiated a variety of improvements, has lead substantial advocacy efforts around protecting and expanding national science funding and protections for international researchers.


CUMC: 9/26 (Wednesday), 1-2pm
@ Irving Cancer Research Center Room 117


Morningside: 9/27 (Thursday), 1-2pm
@ Fairchild Room 800

The university has unfortunately decided to continue its efforts to try to convince us to vote ‘no’ in this election based on unsubstantiated concerns. Please feel free to review our FAQ for responses to many of the questions that have been generated by administration. Also, feel free to respond to this email and we will do our best to answer your questions in a timely manner.

Best,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

All postdocs get to vote on October 2nd and 3rd!

 

Huge news! The regional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) just set dates for our election on unionization to take place on October 2nd and 3rd. We are happy to report that the regional NLRB rejected Columbia’s attempt to deny more than 1,000 of us the ability to vote at all, and further agreed with our proposal for Postdoctoral Research Scientists/Scholars/Fellows and Associate Research Scientists/Scholars to vote on and be represented together in the same union. Click here to share with us why you plan to vote union yes!

If a majority votes “yes” for CPW-UAW in the election, Columbia would have a legal obligation to engage in collective bargaining with us as a union. We would elect a committee of our peers to sit down as equals with Columbia to negotiate for improvements that matter to us as committed scientists and scholars.  We would join together with thousands of postdocs at the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of Washington, UMass, and UConn, and 75,000 total UAW academic workers across the United States, who already bargain. Check here to read examples of improvements our UAW colleagues have won at other universities.

You can read the full regional NLRB decision here and see below for voting times and locations.  We will be sharing more detailed information about the election soon, as well as upcoming events where postdocs can learn more in order to make an informed decision in this historic vote.

October 2nd (Tuesday ONLY):

Manhattanville, Jerome L. Greene Science Center               1pm-3pm

Lamont Doherty, Sutton House                                       11am-1pm

Nevis Laboratory, Irvington, NY, Library 136 Broadway 10am-11am

 

October 2nd and 3rd (Tuesday AND Wednesday):

Morningside, Earl Hall                                                   10am-2pm, 3pm-7pm

CUMC, Hammer Building                                             10am-2pm, 3pm-7pm

Best,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

Hearings over; Columbia still tries to say Postdocs not employees

 

 

We are happy to report that we concluded our hearings at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) yesterday. For our case, we had two postdoctoral researcher witnesses give testimony about their experiences at Columbia showing  the common conditions and nature of our work whether we are classified as Postdoctoral Research Scientists/Scholars, Postdoctoral Research Fellows or Associate Research Scientists/Scholars.

Please tell us why you plan to vote ‘yes’ for CPW-UAW as your union.

Columbia wanted additional hearing time to put on evidence and testimony to support their argument that Postdoctoral Research Scientists (PDRS) and Postdoctoral Research Fellows (PDRF) are not employees and should be denied the right to a union.  The regional NLRB rejected their request, based on previous NLRB decisions, but did allow them to submit an “offer of proof,” essentially a summary of what their case would have been if the NLRB allowed hearings on their claim that PDRS and PDRF are not employees.

You can read Columbia’s complete ‘offer of proof’ here. In short, the University argued that “the Union’s petition, as it relates to postdoctoral trainees, should be dismissed.”  The University claimed that “Postdoctoral trainees are merely ‘trainees,’” that we “seek positions at Columbia not as a job or as a career, but instead for educational and training purposes“ and that “The tasks performed by postdoctoral trainees are fundamentally educational and are part of their training.”

Now that hearings have concluded, the union and the employer get to submit “briefs”, final written arguments, to the NLRB by September 4. Once briefs are submitted, the NLRB regional director will issue a decision about who is eligible to be represented by our union and schedule an election.

While the NLRB’s rejection of devoting additional hearing time to the University’s position that PDRF and PDRS are not employees was a positive step in moving the process forward, the University’s willingness to attempt to block or delay a democratic vote on unionization makes clear how important it is for us to prepare to have a large majority vote in favor of unionization when the time comes.

Please take a minute to join postdoctoral researchers all across campus who are talking about why we plan to vote ‘yes’ for CPW-UAW as your union.

Best,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

Columbia’s first official response to our union

 

 

Yesterday we completed our first day of hearings at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Columbia did not accept our petition to have all Postdoctoral Research Scientists, Postdoctoral Research Fellows and Associate Research Scientists vote on and be represented by our union, Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-UAW (CPW-UAW).  Because Columbia did not agree to our petition, the NLRB takes time to hold hearings in order to hear arguments and evidence so that it can issue an official ruling determining “an appropriate bargaining unit” for our union.

Columbia made several arguments challenging our proposed union.  First and foremost, and by far most disappointing, Columbia asserted that because Postdoctoral Research Scientists and Postdoctoral Research Fellows are “in training,” not “employees,” and therefore should be denied the right to vote on unionization and engage in collective bargaining.  Columbia made two additional arguments against our proposed unit in case the NLRB rejects Columbia’s first argument: (1) Fellows should be excluded because they are not employees of Columbia; and (2) Associate Research Scientists should not be in the same bargaining unit as PDRS and PDRF because our work and conditions are so different that we do not share a “community of interest.”

Knowing Columbia’s long history of attempting to avoid bargaining with our graduate worker colleagues, we should not be surprised.  But it is still disappointing to see Columbia attempt to dismiss our effort to form a union together and to attempt to block PDRS and PDRF the right to a union entirely.

Fortunately, we are hopeful that the hearings will be short and we are confident in the strength of our proposal for a union of all postdoctoral researchers together. We know the critical role that PDRS and PDRF make to the world-renowned research at Columbia. As PDRS and PDRF and Associate Research Scientists, we all work side by side, collaborate with the same faculty, share similar conditions and have a shared interest in collective bargaining so that the central administration no longer unilaterally determine our pay, benefits and rights.

We will provide another update soon to keep everyone informed on the development of our case.

If you want to get more involved with building the union, please click here.

Best Wishes,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

 

Postdoc Union Town Halls this Week!

 

Come to a Postdoc Union town hall to find out more about our upcoming vote.

Last week, we took an exciting step forward by filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to certify our union. As we approach our official union election in the near future, we want to make sure all postdocs can hear about next steps, discuss why we are unionizing, ask questions and learn about  how you can get involved.

So, we are holding open Town Halls this week where postdoctoral researchers can get answers to any questions you may have, like:

  • Who is eligible to vote in our upcoming union election?
  • How will the vote be held?
  • How have postdocs at other universities benefited from unionizing?
  • How is Columbia responding as we get closer to having our vote?

Food and beverages will be provided. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect:

Morningside: Thursday, 8/16, Fairchild Building, room 1000 12:30-1:30pm

CUMC: Friday, 8/17, P&S, Todd Amphitheater room 16-405 1:00-2:00pm

We are excited to vote yes in our upcoming election to certify our union. After the election we want to move into bargaining as quickly as possible.

Please take a minute to join hundreds of other postdoctoral researchers and take the postdoc union bargaining survey.

The more people that participate the more prepared we will be to negotiate a strong contract with the Columbia administration. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Best Wishes,

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

 

A Big Step Forward for our Postdoc Union: CPW-UAW Files a Petition with the NLRB

A Big Step Forward for our Postdoc Union: CPW-UAW Files a Petition with the NLRB  

We are excited to announce that today we filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking certification of CPW-UAW as our union!

Please join us for a town hall to discuss next steps. Come learn more about next steps, ask questions about the process and talk with other postdocs helping to build the union. Please RSVP here so we can know how many people to expect.

The Town Halls will be:

Morningside: Thursday, 8/16, Fairchild Building, room 1000 12:30-1:30pm

CUMC: Friday, 8/17, P&S, Todd Amphitheater room 16-405 1:00-2:00pm

As a majority of postdoctoral researchers have signed up for CPW-UAW, this is an important next step in the establishment of our union. We hope the university will refrain from any efforts to delay the process so that we can move efficiently to an election where we can exercise our democratic choice on whether to engage in collective bargaining to help make the university stronger.

In order to help us prepare for negotiating a strong contract with the Columbia administration, please join hundreds of other postdoctoral researchers and take a minute to fill out the postdoc union bargaining survey.

In moving ahead, we join a growing national movement of academic workers who have come together to form unions as part of the UAW. Postdocs at the University of Washington and the University of Connecticut have both chosen overwhelmingly to unionize in recent months and are now entering negotiations with their universities.

CPW-UAW will be the first postdoc union at a private university and we are excited to join the tens of thousands of postdocs, graduate employees and adjunct faculty unionized with the UAW at over 60+ campuses across the nation.

 

Sincerely,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee:

Silvia Affo, PhD (Department of Medicine, Digestive & Liver Diseases)

Medini Annavajhala, PhD (Department of Medicine, division of Infectious Diseases)

Florence Borot, PhD (Department of Medicine)

Debanjana Chatterjee, PhD (Department of Medicine, Nephrology)

Subrata Chowdhury, PhD (Department of Genetics and Development)

Steven Cook, PhD (Department of Biological Sciences)

Álvaro Cuesta-Domínguez, PhD (Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics)

Nabil Daddaoua, PhD (Department of Neuroscience)

Jonathan De Roo, PhD (Department of Chemistry)

Rainer Engelken, PhD (Department of Neuroscience)

Carlos Forsythe (Department of Physics)

Marta Galán-Díez, PhD (Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics)

Yoona Kang, PhD (Department of Genetics and Development)

Kalpita Karan, PhD (Department of Psychiatry, Behavioral Medicine)

Reka Letso-Recinos, PhD (Department of Biological Sciences)

Zachary McDargh, PhD (Department of Chemical Engineering)

Fabian Munoz, PhD (Department of Neuroscience)

Panos Oikonomou, Phd (Department of Systems Biology)

Maria Jose Ortuño Romero, PhD (Department of Genetics and Development)

Tulsi Patel, PhD (Department of Pathology and Cell Biology)

Evan Paull, PhD (Department of Systems Biology)

Laura Pereira, PhD (Department of Biological Sciences)

Pablo Pérez-Duran, PhD (Institute for Cancer Genetics)

Hila Milo Rasouly, PhD (Department of Medicine, division of Nephrology)

Dario Sirabella, PhD (Columbia Stem Cell Core Facility)

Evgenia Verovskaya, PhD (Department of Genetics and Development)

Agnieszka Wendorff, PhD (Institute for Cancer Genetics)

Naomi Zewde, PhD (School of Social Work)

 

 

Columbia University Postdocs form union with UAW, petition NLRB for election; first private university postdoc effort expands growing academic union movement

NEW YORK CITY — A majority of the 2,000 postdoctoral researchers at Columbia University have formed a union and today filed a petition initiating the certification process with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“After hundreds of conversations, meetings and town halls across the university over the last year, we are excited to take this important step toward establishing a union to improve the postdoc experience at Columbia,” said Alvaro Cuesta-Dominguez, a postdoc in Physiology and Cellular Biophysics.  “We hope to vote on unionization soon, so we can join thousands of our colleagues at public universities like the University of California who have negotiated improvements to pay, benefits and workplace rights as part of the UAW.”

If a majority vote yes for Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-UAW as their union in a subsequent NLRB election, organizers believe CPW-UAW would become the first certified union of postdocs at a private university in the United States.

“We have watched disappointingly as Columbia has refused to bargain with our graduate student worker colleagues over the last year,” said Medini Annavajhala, a postdoc in Infectious Diseases.  “But academic workers are hungry for a more just workplace, especially given the prevalence of sexual harassment and precarious pay and benefits, and so it is no surprise that despite Columbia’s efforts to discourage unionization, a majority of postdocs have now signed up to have a union.”

Postdocs are researchers who have earned a PhD and work under the supervision of a faculty member on a variety of research projects on major diseases like AIDS and Alzheimer’s, climate change, new technologies, and other critical areas.  As the core of the research workforce on campus, their work helps bring roughly one billion dollars in research grants and contracts to Columbia each year, making the university a major hub of academic innovation and an important engine of stimulus to the local economy.

“This has been an exciting week for working people and the UAW,” said Gary Jones, UAW President.  “In the same week that Missouri workers – including thousands of UAW members – voted overwhelmingly to reject right-to-work, 2,000 postdocs at Columbia University have now taken a major step toward joining the UAW.”

“We welcome these workers into the UAW community,” said Beverley Brakeman, Director of UAW Region 9A, which includes 37,000 members in New York City, New England and Puerto Rico.  “We sincerely hope Columbia embraces this opportunity to show its respect for the rights of workers to choose collective bargaining without unnecessary delays and in a free and fair manner.”

Academic workers across the Northeast have formed unions with the UAW in record numbers in recent years.  More than 15,000 graduate student workers, contingent faculty and postdocs have chosen UAW representation just since the end of 2013.  Most recently, 5,000 graduate workers at Harvard voted for the UAW in an April NLRB election and in July, the state labor board certified that a majority of the 150 postdocs at the University of Connecticut chose to unionize with the UAW.

The UAW now represents roughly 75,000 academic workers across the U.S., including postdocs at the University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of Washington, University of Massachusetts and University of Connecticut.  The UAW also represents hundreds of support staff at Columbia and more than 3,000 graduate student workers, who voted by an overwhelming 72 percent in favor of unionization in 2016, but the administration has refused to bargain with the graduate worker union based on the claim that “student employees” do not have union rights.