Bargaining Committee Vacancy Election

Join us as we rally with the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC-UAW) at the March to End Family Separation, tomorrow (Saturday, June 30th) at 10am.

Tomorrow, we will join thousands of New Yorkers in a national day of action to demand that Donald Trump and his administration stop separating kids from their parents while being detained and fight for families to be reunited.

We will meet up outside the J Z Chambers Street station at the southern end of Foley Square at 10:00AM.  Look out for the UAW signs! If you have any questions or can’t find us at the March, contact Corin at 202-380-5755.

We are also having a BBQ this Sunday, July 1st to celebrate the growing majority support for our union. Please let us know if you can make it.

The BBQ will be a good space to get to know one another in a different setting from our labs and offices, as well as talk about next steps in forming our union. We will be getting together this Sunday from 11-3pm, in Riverside Park at 10 Mile River Playground (W. 148th St. and Hudson River) Significant others and baby scientists are more than welcome, and one of the reasons we are organizing this outdoor event. Also feel free to bring food to share though we will have plenty of burgers and dogs.

All the best,

Members of Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

Please take a minute to sign this petition from GWC-UAW to oppose the attack on international scholars.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s controversial Muslim Ban. This is a continuation of the attack on international scholars by Trump’s administration. On June 11th, new rules were introduced to limit Chinese student visas in STEM fields to as little as one year. Previously, most visas were issued for the maximum possible five year period.

Many members of our Union will be affected by these discriminatory and xenophobic policies, and it is important to stop this trend. The Graduate Workers of Columbia, in coordination with other UAW higher education local unions, like the postdocs at the University of California and graduate employees around the country, are circulating petitions to university presidents to take a stand against these discriminatory practices.

Please sign GWC-UAW’s petition to President Bollinger asking him and other University presidents around the country to resist this and communicate the harmful impacts of these policies to our state congressional delegation and to the Trump administration.

Protecting the rights of international workers is one of the many many reasons a majority of postdoctoral researchers support our union. Please join us in celebrating the work we have done so far by coming to a BBQ this Sunday.

Please let us know if you can make it to the BBQ this Sunday, July 1st, from 11-3pm, in Riverside Park at 10 Mile River Playground (W. 148th St. and Hudson River)

The BBQ will be a good space to get to know one another in a different setting from our labs and offices, as well as talk about next steps in forming our union. Significant others and baby scientists are more than welcome, and one of the reasons we are organizing this outdoor event. Also feel free to bring food to share though we will have plenty of burgers and dogs.

All the best,

Members of Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

We are excited that a majority of postdoctoral researchers have signed up for our union and that we are moving towards filing for an election and winning a good contract at Columbia.

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

Strong majority participation in the survey will also strengthen our union and enable us to have more power to negotiate a strong contract with the Columbia administration.

To celebrate the all the hard work we have put into building our union we are having a BBQ! Please let us know if you can make it.

The BBQ will be a good space to get to know one another in a different setting from our labs and offices, as well as talk about next steps in forming our union. We will be getting together this Sunday, July 1st, from 11-3pm, in Riverside Park at 10 Mile River Playground (W. 148th St. and Hudson River) Significant others and baby scientists are more than welcome, and one of the reasons we are organizing this outdoor event. Also feel free to bring food to share though we will have plenty of burgers and dogs.

Members of Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

This Sunday is NYC’s Pride parade, a celebration of the history of LGBTQ struggles in the U.S. We are excited to be marching with the Graduate Workers of Columbia and Congressman Jerry Nadler, meeting this Sunday, June 24th at West 15th and 8th ave at 10:45am to register as all participants will need a wristband to march in the parade.

Please RSVP to march with CPW-UAW in the Pride parade this year.

We have also been distributing a bargaining survey to develop the most representative bargaining goals possible. Postdoctoral researchers all across campus are taking the survey to give feedback on what issues we want to address in negotiations with Columbia.

Please take a few minutes to fill out the postdoc union bargaining survey.

A majority of us have signed up for CPW-UAW and we are moving closer to having a formal vote to establish our union. The more of us who fill out a survey, and the more of us who vote ‘yes’ when we have that union election, the more effectively we can negotiate a fair contract for all postdoctoral researchers at Columbia to address issues such as sexual harassment and secure workplace rights. Please complete the survey here.

Members of Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

RSVP to join Columbia Postdoctoral Workers at the March for Science on April 14th.

Last year, we marched together in Washington, D.C. with the Columbia graduate employee union and other campus groups at the National March for Science, joining over 1 million people around the world to advocate for science and to encourage bi-partisan, evidence-based policy-making. This year, we will march in NYC to hold our elected officials accountable for enacting transparent policies rooted in scientific understanding.

Please join our union in supporting the March for Science NYC on Saturday, April 14th, at 11:30am in Washington Square Park, and for an evening of poster-making on Friday, April 13th! We will be marching in solidarity with the Graduate Workers of Columbia for the use of science to create better domestic and international policies that are equitable, fair, and empowering to all people.

Details:

Sign-Making Session: Friday, April 13th, 5-8pm, Black Building 14th floor conference room (BYOB  )

March for Science NYC: Saturday, April 14th, 11:30am, in front of NYU’s Bobst Library, next to Washington Square Park.

We hope to see you all there!

P.S. – We were interviewed by the Columbia Daily Spectator for an article on gender inequality in the leadership of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Check it out here.

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

Recent events across the country show that sexual harassment pervades the academic workplace as deeply as it does Hollywood or any other profession.  Please take a moment to sign this petition calling on the Columbia administration to address sexual misconduct and gender-based discrimination immediately.

Among the many reasons hundreds of postdocs and researchers have signed up for our union, we know that we can negotiate stronger protections and systems of recourse against sexual harassment.  At the University of Connecticut, for example, graduate assistants negotiated protections in their first contract, including a grievance process that has already enabled some women scientists to successfully address sexual harassment.

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

Please click here if you want to get involved to help to win a strong first contract.

Best,

Members of the CPW-UAW Organizing Committee

Happy International Women’s Day! Women around the world are coming together today to celebrate the struggles to advance women’s cultural, social and political equality.

In spite of these past successes, women still face many barriers. One of the many reasons that hundreds of postdoctoral researchers support forming a union is to negotiate stronger protections against sexual harassment and discrimination at Columbia.

Check out this great story in Elite Daily about how the UConn Graduate Student Union Helps Handle Sexual Harassment, where they negotiated stronger protections in their first contract and have  already enforced those rights through their grievance procedure.

If you want to get more involved with the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers please click here.

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

We write to express our frustration with the Columbia administration’s latest efforts to deny collective bargaining rights to our graduate worker colleagues and to reaffirm our commitment to form a postdoctoral workers union despite the administration’s clear desire to avoid bargaining with the academic workers who are the backbone of this great university. Click here to get involved in pushing our post-doctoral union forward.

Provost Coatsworth informed the Columbia community last week that the administration will refuse to bargain with the graduate workers union (GWC-UAW), based on their belief that graduate student workers should not be considered employees for the purpose of collective bargaining.

However, after intensive investigations and hearings the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board concluded that:

“In many respects the duties of student assistants are the same as those of admittedly ‘employee’ counterparts on the Columbia University faculty… In labs, research assistants work side by side with faculty and post-docs, performing many of the same tasks and advancing the work of the lab and the mission of the University as a top research institution.”

We remain confident our graduate worker colleagues will ultimately win full recognition of their union.  But we are deeply disappointed the administration has chosen to continue fighting an expensive legal battle, rather than honor the democratic voice of the graduate workers (who voted overwhelmingly for the union) and start bargaining a fair contract with GWC-UAW.

In the case of our postdoctoral union, we at least know that Columbia cannot argue to the NLRB that we are students.  However, their behavior over the last three years makes clear they would prefer not to share real decision-making power about our pay, benefits, and rights, and they may very well seek other ways to stall our effort to have a union.

With Columbia’s position more clear than ever, it is especially important that we reach as many postdoctoral researchers as possible, as quickly as possible so that we can continue growing toward majority support. The more people that get involved the more power we will have as we begin the process to secure a fair contract for postdoctoral researchers across campus.

Join the campaign to reach out to fellow post-docs and help make it clear to the university that we want a democratic bargaining process.

Best Wishes,

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)

One year ago, graduate employees voted by an overwhelming 72% majority to form their union. After the election, Columbia’s administration decided to challenge the results in an effort to slow down the process of bargaining a fair contract.

Yesterday the National Labor Relations Board rejected Columbia’s objections to last years election, which now creates a legal obligation for the University to begin the process of bargaining.

We are very excited for the Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC-UAW) and hope that the administration respects the democratic mandate of graduate employees.

We are continuing to talk with postdoctoral researchers across campus to build our union. If you would like to get more involved please fill out this form and we will get in touch.

Best Wishes,

Members of the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)