2019-2020 Contract Negotiations

📢 April 20th is here!! 📢

Support your Contract demands!!!

Thursday, we will gather at 9 am on Manhattanville campus. Any single member can support the Bargaining Committee by showing up in person. We will show Columbia that we are united in asking modifications to our Union Contract and asking for hybrid bargaining mode. 

There will be t-shirts, bagels and coffee!! We meet at 9am! You can stay as long as you want, and join the Bargaining Committee in the bargaining room at 10 am!

We officially start bargaining with Columbia University right after on Thursday, 20th at 10 am.

Yesterday, we sent the final package containing our Bargaining Goals and proposed contract changes to Columbia administration. Members contributed to its drafting until last Sunday, when the document was finalized by the Bargaining Committee. The Bargaining Committee will present these goals to the administration on the first day of bargaining. 

We also sent them our proposed bargaining rules for the negotiation process, which include hybrid (in person and zoom) meetings.

Due to repeated delays by Columbia’s administration, we are starting bargaining only 70 days before the contract expires. With these documents we are hoping to facilitate the negotiations as much as possible.

✴️Stay updated and involved in the process!!!! ✴️

Recap email after each bargaining session will follow.

Add the calendar of your union

After the bargaining session, we will send a summary of what has been discussed during the meeting. We are also organizing a zoom meeting (zoom link will be included in the follow up email) for you to debrief and discuss next steps with your Bargaining Committee.

Cheers!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Bargaining Committee.

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

💫 So many things happened in March!! 💫

• Over 9 different Town Halls, we reviewed the improvements we want for our contract, from benefits to parent rights.

Did you miss it? Check the power points here!

• There’s still time to give your support to our demands! Hundreds of Postdocs/ARSs colleagues from all over Columbia have already signed up! Sign here

💫 So many things will happen in April!! 💫

• On Thursday, 13th: April Membership meeting.

The Bargaining Committee has finalized our contract’s package that will be presented to Columbia University on April 20th, the first day of contract negotiations. 

April Membership meeting will be the last time to review and finalize the package, you can also give suggestions in advance > Add  any final comment here!

RSVP for the membership meeting on April 13th

[in person at CUMC or Morningside, or virtually on Zoom]

>> If you can make it in person, stick around for snacks and drinks with your colleagues Postdocs and ARSs.

💥April 20th: is THE day!!! 💥

But first, a little bit of background. 

• In fair advance (January), we requested Columbia to start negotiations early. Instead, the University offered only April 20 as the first bargaining date. 
• We then followed up with multiple emails asking for the time of the meeting and the composition of their bargaining team. No answer! 
• Being neglected and kept in the dark by our Employer is unfair. We requested Columbia to start the meeting at 10 am. Once we receive a response, we will be able to confirm with our members, so that you can all attend the first bargaining session.

Nevertheless, we will not be waiting for Columbia to get back to us. 

>> On April 20th, at 9am we are launching a bargaining kickoff gathering in Manhattanville campus (where Columbia wants to hold negotiations).

• Join us! Your attendance is already a powerful signal of unity, determination and the drive to improve our working conditions. It will make a difference and contribute towards a favorable outcome. 
• And you can also stay and join the BC IN PERSON for the first bargaining session, and hear Columbia’s response to our contract demands.  

We will distribute our new Union T-shirts designed and voted by you on slack and IG. ….and there will also be coffee and bagels.

Cheers!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Bargaining Committee.

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

April 20th is almost here! Negotiations, negotiations, NEGOTIATIONS!!!

During this coming March, the Bargaining Committee and the Working Groups will be holding Town Halls on the most relevant Contract articles and topics that will be presented to Columbia at the beginning of the Contract Bargaining Season. 

These Town Halls represent a chance to give you all the information about and, at the same time, hear your ideas and thoughts on what  you want to change and improve in our contract. 

We will hold Town Halls on topics like Benefits, Compensation, Housing, Fellows, Parents.. Check the schedule out and join us!! Let us know what you want or don’t want to change in our Contract, you’re part of the team!!

RSVP for one/several zoom Town Halls in the topic you are most interested in.

 and spread the voice among your colleagues!

Cheers!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Bargaining Committee.

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

Our last Membership Meeting of February was 🔥🔥🔥🔥. 

We will have a follow up meeting next week for the ones of us that were not able to attend it  to report updates and further discuss Bargaining topics.

RSVP here for meeting on zoom, next Wednesday 03/08 at noon.

WHAT WAS DISCUSSED 💡🗣️

• Columbia wants to start bargaining in person at the end of April. We discussed the pro vs cons: for example, in person may allow some more efficient communication, but on the other side, limit the ability of members to join the sessions. We want every member to be able to follow the negotiations and will fight for the hybrid mode.
  Contract demands/Bargaining Goals are general goals that we want to win for our next contract. The Bargaining Committee will present these goals to Columbia on the first day of bargaining.

>> Click here to read them all!!

Do you like these demands? Tell us your feedback and add your name in support! 

Feedback period closes this coming Wednesday. 

We will collect signatures from Postdocs/ARSs to show support 

> VOTE AND ADD YOUR SUPPORT HERE!!

To make Columbia hear our contract demands, we need to show them that we are a united front and willing to fight to achieve them. How?

WHAT COMES NEXT AND WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP 🫵🦾

• At the Meeting, we also reviewed the feedback submitted by fellow Postdocs/ARSs. 
• Next step is to write our demands down in contract language [For reference, this is our current contract] with tracked changes!
• This initial language will most likely evolve throughout the negotiations with Columbia. 
• We are expecting big resistance from Columbia over certain demands and we must be ready to decide what we are willing to give up or not during the bargaining. AKA to negotiably negotiate negotiations!! How? Through our Membership meetings, Organizing Committee, Bargaining Committee, Town Halls. Got any suggestions? Let us know!!!

We are organizing Town Halls to discuss the specific language

(specific dates/times will be determined according to interested people)

RSVP here to sign up, follow or help

CONTRACT? BARGAINING? UNION? COMMITTEE? 🤯💥

• If you’re still uncertain on what the topics above mean, we are preparing useful resources to better explain what is going on, what happened in the past and what we are getting ready for. Let us know if you’d like to help. It’s all about you! Your contract, your work. The Union is all of Us.

UNION SOCIALS AND NEXT GATHERING – THIS COMING THURSDAY 6 pm 🍻💫

• Next social gathering is coming up!
  Thursday March 2nd – Social with Mt Sinai Postdocs bargaining their first contract and Postdocs from NYU

Who: Postdoctoral researchers from Columbia, Mount Sinai and NYU

When: Thursday 3/2, at 6pm

Where: The Perfect Pint 123 W 45th St
RSVP here

Also, we’re on Twitter, Instagram, Slack, TikTok, Facebook, etc etc. Follow us and stay updated!!

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

 Th 02/23 AT 6:30pm >> 

RSVP to discuss and vote in the final contract demands

(Every postdoc/ARS at Columbia is welcomed to participate but in order to vote you must be a full union member. You can sign and authorize dues here)

In addition, you can

[Read and submit any feedback to our contract demands]

 [more details on our negotiations]

AT 12:30pm >>

🚨Rally with Mount Sinai Postdocs this THURSDAY, 12:30pm for a Fair Contract! 🚨

 Last year, +500 Postdoctoral Researchers at Mount Sinai voted by an overwhelming 89.5% to form their union, the second for postdocs at a private institution. Postdocs do scientific research that produces life-saving healthcare around the world, and have sustained Mount Sinai’s world-renowned research program throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, almost eight months since they formed their union, Sinai has continued to stall contract negotiations and reject standard provisions that other unionized workers have, including:

• A timely, enforceable grievance process
• Just cause protections
• Stable, predictable appointment lengths
• Stronger protections against discrimination and abuse
• And many more basic rights

In order to support Sinai postdocs in their fight, please join us at a rally on Thursday, February 23 at 12:30pm at 98th st and Madison Ave, to tell Sinai to Stop Stalling on Basic Rights and make greater efforts to reach a fair contract. Click here to RSVP if you can make it: https://forms.gle/BAaeSQ6YsysdbPQ79

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW 4100 Executive Board

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

Our student colleagues working as Resident Advisers (RAs) on the Residential Life at Columbia University, last May formed the Columbia University Resident Adviser (CURA) Collective to fight for better pay and workplace democracy for all RAs. They have already won salary raises for some RAs (many of them receiving less than $2 per hour) and now they are getting organized into a union!

Join us at their rally today at 4.30pm on Sundial [In front of Low Library, Morningside campus].

COME TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT!!

Academic Organizing Opportunities with UAW 

If you are interested in helping academic workers join the growing wave of organizing with the UAW in the NYC area, please click here to learn about opportunities.  In the last decade, well over 10,000 student workers, non-tenure-track faculty and postdoctoral researchers have organized new unions with the UAW, including Columbia Postdoctoral Worksrs-UAW Local 4100]. The UAW is seeking union members interested in working as temporary part-time or full-time organizers to help continue building this dynamic and growing part of the UAW and NYC labor movement.  

Applications are open to all who have employment eligibility off campus. Strong applicants will be passionate about continuing to improve working conditions for academic workers, able to work well as part of a team, highly focused and detail oriented, and willing to have challenging conversations about the importance of union membership and participation with academic workers from diverse backgrounds. 
If you would like to apply, fill out the interest form and a member of the organizing staff will reach out: https://forms.gle/s7xB5xavAaUvZTMi8

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

The beginning of the negotiations with Columbia for our next contract is approaching!

WHEN WILL WE START? ⏰⏳

• In January we offered Columbia to start the Bargaining Season in March. 
• First they seemed open to giving some extra time to our negotiations, however they just let us know they want to start bargaining in person at the end of April. 
• They didn’t leave much space for a debate. We want every member to be able to follow the negotiations and will fight for the hybrid mode.
  

WHAT ARE OUR CONTRACT DEMANDS? ✊🏿✊🏻✊🏽  

• At our last Membership Meeting in January, with over  60 Postdocs and ARSs, the Bargaining Committee presented the results from the Bargaining Surveys (answered by almost 800 of us! YAY!). 
• The participants came up with a first draft with demands for our contract. We will be voting on these demands at our next Membership Meeting on February 23rd, 6:30pm. Stay tuned for announcements on logistics! 
• Come join your fellow members and vote, vote, vote! You have the power to decide what the Bargaining Committee will negotiate with Columbia in your next Contract.

RSVP to the February meeting to discuss and vote in the final contract demands

(In order to vote you must be a full union member. You can sign and authorize dues here)

In addition, you can

[Read and submit any feedback to our contract demands]

NIH WANTS TO HEAR FROM US 🌎 🧬

• United with other UAW Academic Unions we have a strong voice to advocate at Federal Agencies to improve postdocs/ARSs working conditions. 
• The NIH has formed the ACD working group on re-envisioning NIH-supported postdoctoral training which is seeking input from the scientific community, particularly trainees, early-stage faculty, and others invested in the biomedical workforce, about challenges faced by the postdoctoral trainee community. 

Please consider responding to the NIH’s Information Request.

• This is an important first step towards improving our work experience and rights as postdocs/ARSs. The survey is only 8 questions and should take no more than 15min. 
• Your responses will be used to help develop recommendations to address this problem which impacts U.S. competitiveness in biomedical research and innovation.
• It will close on April 14, 2023.

HELP US WRITE AND WIN OUR NEXT CONTRACT 📝 🏆

• Last but not least, our AMAZING Working Groups (Sign up here if you are interested in learning more and help the Bargaining Committee!) continue working on the Contract language and researching background information on the most important topics to build a strong case on our Contract demands. 
• We will be holding Town halls to report the work done so far in the first weeks of March. Keep an eye out for those dates!

Cheers!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Bargaining Committee.

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

TUSGA graduate students are one strike since XX for a Living Wage of $32,800, Healthcare for Dependents and Families, Longer Parental and Bereavement Leave and Better Working conditions overall (read more). Last week, Temple University announced that it is withholding tuition remission and healthcare benefits for grad workers on strike. Based on the average tuition remission for grad students at Temple (a fabricated “fee”), this means workers who already make below cost of living could owe their employer upwards of $20,000 for withholding labor.

If Temple manages to extract $20,000 from employees simply because they stand up for their rights, schools like Columbia can do the same. We can’t let that happen.

[[SIGN ON TO PROTECT WORKPLACE RIGHTS AT TEMPLE AND COLUMBIA]]

To protect our own workplace rights and demonstrate solidarity with the grad workers at Temple, we are asking every member of the Columbia community to take action by signing this letter in support of the Temple grad workers and turning out to one of our cross-union solidarity events.

💫🍻🍔 Solidarity events on Wednesday 2/15: 🍔🍻💫

1. Join a campus rally at 2:30pm, which is being co-organized by SWC, postdocs, and support staff. That’s Wednesday 2/15 at 2:30, meeting by the Sundial for Morningside Campus or at the steps of the Hammer Building for CUIMC.
   
2. Come to our VERY EXCITING cross campus fundraiser happy hour at Slattery’s Pub with NYU and CUNY to support the Temple grad union! Members from SWC, CPW (the Columbia postdocs union), NYU-GSOC, and CUNY-PSC will all be there from 7:30pm+. Share a pint while organizers circulate a link for attendees to donate $5-$20 to the Temple grads workers’ strike fund. More location info and RSVP at the bottom of this link.

We’ve already seen how wins on one campus helps set contract standards across the sector but it also works in reverse: unprecedented restrictions to legally protected activity at Temple will mangle the rights of workers at Columbia.

How can I help?

1. Participate in the rally on Wednesday 2/15 at 2:30pm. We are asking this of all students, teachers, and researchers across campus. RSVP here >>
2. Join our cross-campus fundraiser happy hour Wednesday 2/15 at 7:30pm at Slattery’s Pub, RSVP at the bottom of this link >>
3. Regardless of whether you are working on Wednesday, please add your name to this sign-on letter condemning Temple University’s administration for withholding health benefits and tuition remission from striking workers.

P.S. Can’t make it to the fundraiser but want to donate? Support the Temple grad union here: https://tugsa.betterworld.org/campaigns/tugsa-strike-fund 

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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

The deadline to accept steward and executive board nominations closed on Thursday, February 9th at 11:59 PM ET. We can now announce that the following candidates have been elected in their position by acclamation (they ran unopposed).

Stewards Positions:

• Mayank Kumar CUMC District 2
• Thomas Donoghue MS District 2
• En-Hung Chao MS District 3
• Elsy El Khoury MS District 3
• Jeff Johnston Manhattanvile
• Matthew Jerram Lamont District

Elections Committees Positions:

• Camilo Duarte
• Balaji S. Santhanam

Congratulations to everyone! 

In Solidarity,

CPW-UAW Elections Committee

HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!

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