2019-2020 Contract Negotiations

If you have not already done so, click here to cast your vote on our first union contract.

Until July 16th Columbia postdocs and Associate Researchers are voting on our first union contract. The tentative agreement with Columbia includes substantive and important improvements, including new minimum salary rates that will make postdoc minimum salaries at Columbia the highest in NYC. The bargaining committee overwhelmingly recommends ratification of the agreement as our first union contract. To read a summary and/or the full tentative agreement, click here.

Tomorrow, Friday July 10 at 1PM-2PM PT / 4PM-5PM ET, UAW Academic Workers are hosting an info session about the recent SEVP ICE decision. Guest speaker is Stacey Gartland from immigration law firm Van Der Hout, LLP. The main topic will be the recent SEVP F1 ICE decision.* Please click here to RSVP. You will receive the Zoom details shortly before the meeting.

*During the info session, we’ll address general questions. We will not be able to address questions about your specific case. If there is a general topic you would like to get more info on, please let us know on the registration form. If you have a question about your specific situation, you can schedule a consultation appointment with one of the attorneys.

This session is co-hosted by UAW 2865 (UC Students Workers Union), UAW 5810 (Union of Postdocs and Academic Researchers), UAW 4121 (Union of Academic Student Employees & Postdocs at the University of Washington), Washington Science Policy Network, UAW 4123 (Union of Academic Student Employees across CSU), UAW 2110 (Graduate Workers of Columbia and NYU Graduate Student Organizing Committee), UAW 5118 (Harvard Graduate Students Union), UAW Local 7902 (Student Employees at The New School), CPW-UAW Local 4100 (Columbia Postdoctoral Workers), UAW Local 6950 (University of Connecticut Graduate Employees and Postdocs), UAW Local 1596 (UMass Boston and Lowell Graduate Employee Organization), Boston College Graduate Employees Union – UAW, and Graduate Employee Union at Northeastern University – UAW.

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Click here to participate in our CPW-UAW contract ratification vote.

Voting on whether to ratify our tentative agreement with Columbia is now open. The bargaining committee overwhelmingly recommends ratification of the agreement as our first union contract. Voting will end on Thursday, July 16 at 12:00 PM, at which point results will be counted and announced. While voting is taking place, please encourage your colleagues to vote! To read a summary and/or the full tentative agreement, click here.

Signing an authorization card is necessary in order for you to be eligible to vote. If you have not already signed an authorization card, please do so here in order for your vote to be counted. Anyone who is currently employed by Columbia and is in the job titles of Postdoctoral Research Scientist/Scholar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow or Associate Research Scientist/Scholar is eligible.

Please join members of the bargaining committee this Wednesday July 8th at 1:00pm for a virtual town hall. You can register here. We will be giving a summary of the highlights of the agreement and will be available to answer any questions.

The more postdoctoral and associate researchers who participate, the more we can show Columbia that we are engaged and ready to continue fighting for more improvements during the life of our contract.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

In solidarity,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Click here to participate in our CPW-UAW contract ratification vote.

Voting on whether to ratify our tentative agreement with Columbia is now open. The bargaining committee overwhelmingly recommends ratification of the agreement as our first union contract. To read a summary and/or the full tentative agreement, click here.

Signing an authorization card is necessary in order for you to be eligible to vote. If you have not already signed an authorization card, please do so here in order for your vote to be counted.

Voting will end on Thursday, July 16 at 12:00 PM, at which point results will be counted and announced. While voting is taking place, please encourage your colleagues to vote! The more postdoctoral and associate researchers who participate, the more we can show Columbia that we are engaged and ready to continue fighting for more improvements during the life of our contract.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

In solidarity,

The CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Our elected bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement for our first contract with the Columbia administration. We are very proud of the substantive and important improvements we won as a result of years of tireless organizing and 16 months of bargaining, including new minimum salary rates that will make postdoc minimum salaries at Columbia the highest in NYC.  

Please join us for a Town Hall tonight, Wednesday July 1st at 6:00pm to discuss the tentative agreement.

We are also proud that this contract, if ratified, would be the first collective bargaining agreement covering postdoctoral researchers at a private institution. The contract would establish a number of new workplace rights for researchers here at Columbia, including protections against retaliation, neutral resolution of grievances, fairer and more timely procedures to address discrimination and harassment, and paid parental leave.

You can read a summary of the contract as well as the full text of articles here.

We believe this is a strong, fair agreement that would improve the lives and protect the rights of postdoctoral researchers. The bargaining committee voted 7:1 in favor of the agreement and strongly supports ratification. We encourage you to read the articles, attend the town halls, and reach out with any questions.

The ratification vote will begin Thursday July 2nd at 9:00am. To be eligible to vote you must have signed an authorization card and be working in a job title of Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Scientist or Fellow or as an Associate Research Scholar or Scientist. 

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

With our June 30 deadline looming, we have been tirelessly negotiating with Columbia to resolve our differences and come to a fair agreement (There’s still time to sign the open letter demanding a fair contract).

After substantial effort to find workable compromises on protections against discrimination and harassment, Columbia again took a hard line on timeliness, continuing to present a major obstacle to finishing a contract article critical to an overall fair agreement. In the last few days, we have made essential progress on discrimination and harassment protections. For example, the University has now agreed that all discrimination and harassment complaints may be appealed to a neutral arbitrator, despite concerns regarding the Trump administration’s new Title IX regulations. However, Columbia again rejected our proposal to have the right to appeal unresolved non-Title IX complaints to arbitration after 60 days. The University has acknowledged that historically, the majority of complaints have been resolved in 60 days, and that this is the timeline the Columbia EOAA office aspires to. We have even agreed to grant University requests for an extension where warranted. We believe this is a very reasonable timeline. But the administration team still insists on an additional automatic extra 30 days. A fair process takes time, but an untimely process can never be fair. We continue this fight tomorrow and will keep you posted. This is a high priority for protecting researchers across campus.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Sign the open letter to the administration demanding a fair contract

We had a short surprise visit from interim Provost Katznelson yesterday in our bargaining session. He asserted a strong desire to finish an agreement by the end of June and pointed to some of the recent positive changes in the University proposals. We reminded him of some of the important remaining obstacles to what we would consider a fair agreement including timeliness in non-discrimination and fellow equity.  

On the topic of Non-Discrimination, the Provost said he shared our dismay with the Trump administration’s new regulations on Title IX, which aim to enhance the rights of accused sexual harassers instead of the rights of survivors of harassment. He then previewed the University’s newest proposal, which made meaningful movement in our direction, including a significantly shorter timeline to take many discrimination harassment claims to neutral arbitration if necessary.  

Specifically, in their latest proposal the University has agreed that the Union may appeal discrimination and harassment grievances/complaints to neutral arbitration. For all discrimination and harassment complaints, the EOAA office would determine within 5 days if the case involved Title IX or not. If the Union disagreed with the determination, an agreed-upon independent lawyer would resolve the dispute within 10 days. For non-Title IX complaints, the Union would have the right to appeal to neutral arbitration after 90 days (instead of 180 in their last proposal) if the EOAA process was still incomplete. For Title IX cases, the Union could only appeal after completion of the EOAA process. They also proposed the right to re-open bargaining on this topic if the Title IX rules are overturned. While this proposal was a significant move in the right direction, we will continue to fight for more timely procedures and continue to work through our differences around the implications of the Title IX regulations.

On economic issues, the Provost touted the proposed major increases to Postdoc and Associate Researcher minimum salaries amidst a salary freeze for most campus employees. We acknowledged the significance of their proposal, but also pointed out the significantly lower increases (2%) for researchers above the new minimums during the first year of our contract. We will continue to fight for more robust increases for those already above the minimum.

Finally, we had discussion over the topic of fellow equity in regards to healthcare, childcare and other benefits and will continue bargaining over this topic.

We will work through the weekend to develop responses to their most recent proposals and expect to engage with the administration again on Monday and Tuesday. We will keep you posted. Please respond to this email if you would like to get more involved in efforts to win a fair agreement or if you would like to further discuss any of the articles.

As the situation with Trump’s proclamation to suspend new visas for foreign workers continues to develop, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

In our latest bargaining session yesterday, we exchanged more proposals on Compensation, Non-Discrimination, Leaves of Absence and Union Security. We made small progress on Compensation, but still have significant differences on that topic as well as others. As we still have a number of obstacles, nearly 200 postdoc and associate researchers have now signed a letter telling the administration that if we don’t have a fair agreement by June 30, they will ask the bargaining committee to call a strike authorization vote–please feel free to add your name here.

The bulk of our discussions today revolved around the following topics:

1. Compensation and benefits: We gave the university a new proposal that combined significant increases to minimum salaries with provisions to ensure increased compensation for all researchers. The University’s latest proposal included a new 2% lump sum payment for all researchers that would happen when the contract goes into effect, in addition to their newly proposed minimums of $60,000 for Postdocs and $66,100 for ARS and additional minimum 2% increase at every reappointment starting in 2021. While the new lump sum was a small step forward, we will continue to fight for more robust yearly increases and increases for those who would not benefit from the new minimum salary rates. The University also continues to firmly oppose any improved benefits beyond what all officers receive.

2. Non-discrimination: We had more discussion today in an effort to continue working through our differences on discrimination and harassment protections. We made a new proposal that attempted to incorporate some of their concerns while maintaining Postdoc and Associate Researchers’ right to a fair and timely process for achieving fair outcomes to grievance/complaint regarding discrimination and harassment. Our disagreements on this topic continue to present one of the largest obstacles to reaching an overall fair agreement. We are particularly concerned that many of Columbia’s objections to our proposals seem to be based on their desire to protect the rights of accused harassers, rather than survivors.

3. Union Security: We made modifications to our proposal for a union shop, a provision consistent with every other Columbia union contract, where all employees would share the cost of representation by paying dues or fees. The university has so far rejected this standard proposal.

If you would like to get more involved in the organizing efforts to win a fair contract, send us an email. We bargain again today and will provide further updates. 

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

Columbia made its most substantial economic proposal yet in yesterday’s bargaining session, but the University’s overall package of proposals still falls short of what we would consider a fair agreement. This is especially true in their continued effort to provide insufficient protections against discrimination and harassment.  

We made significant progress in two major areas. First, we finished a tentative version of language for the Grievance and Arbitration article, the fundamental process for enforcing our agreement with the University. Second, the University made a major new Compensation proposal that would raise minimum Postdoc salaries to $60,000 effective July 1, 2020, including parity for Fellows, and raise minimum Associate Researcher salaries to $66,100.  

While we recognize the significance of the University’s Compensation proposal, it would leave hundreds of researchers who are already above those minimums without any guaranteed increases in the first year of our contract and would include insufficient future increases for all researchers. While there is now an overall improvement in the economics, the University continues to simultaneously propose weak and unpredictable protections against discrimination and harassment, and appears to be introducing new arguments at the last minute to justify lengthy delays in getting to fair resolutions of complaints/grievances in this area.

We expect to be bargaining again this week and will keep you posted. If you would like to read a summary of the overall status of our negotiations, go to our website here.

Please Join us for a virtual Town Hall on Thursday, June 25 for the latest updates about where things stand, including progress made and continuing challenges, and to join the discussion about how we can show Columbia that we want a strong and fair first contract. Register here for the virtual Town Hall on Thursday, June 25th at 1:00pm.

Yesterday, UAW local 5810, (the postdoc union at UC) in conjunction with UAW local 2865 (Graduate employees at UC) hosted an immigration attorney to help explain and answer questions about the impact of President Trump’s Executive Order that suspends entry to the US for some non-immigrants. You can watch a recording of the information session here. Please reach out to columbiapostdocunion@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

After over a year of negotiating, we’ve reached tentative agreements with the University on many issues. In recent months, the CPW-UAW bargaining committee has been working hard to find a path to completing a fair agreement with Columbia–even as the administration tries again to pressure us by threatening to withdraw proposed pay increases if we do not reach agreement before July 1. We continue to believe a fair agreement is possible, however, the administration’s intransigence in certain areas and their approach to the negotiations continue to present major obstacles.

Join us for a virtual Town Hall on June 25 for the latest updates about where things stand, including progress made and continuing challenges, and to join the discussion about how we can show Columbia that we want a strong and fair first contract.

Register here for the virtual Town Hall on Thursday, June 25th at 1:00pm.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee

As Columbia proceeds toward a fuller research ramp-up, the administration bargaining team continues to resist certain improvements for Postdoc and Associate Researchers who make up a substantial core of the research workforce. While the CPW-UAW bargaining committee continues to work in good faith in an effort to find a way to reach a fair agreement by the end of this month, the administration’s intransigence in certain areas, as well as their approach to the negotiations, present major obstacles.  

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET MORE INVOLVED IN FIGHTING FOR A FAIR CONTRACT!

While you can read a summary of substantive differences further below, we also want to share a glimpse of how the Columbia administration and its lawyers approach the negotiation process, so you all have a better sense of the obstacles we face in completing negotiations for a fair first agreement. Here is one example from a recent session.

CPW-UAW “A fair, timely process for discrimination and harassment is a huge priority for us.”

Columbia “We will not debate this topic anymore.”

Most of us have never come this directly in contact with this side of Columbia University. We expect substantive differences, but we also expect a respectful approach to negotiating with a workforce that helps bring prestige and roughly $1 Billion per year to this university in research grants and contracts.  

We nevertheless continue to make some progress in our sessions. For example, we have come close to agreeing on a fair grievance and arbitration process to enforce our future contract provisions. While we still have to agree on the specifics of handling discrimination and harassment grievances, this is important progress since the Grievance and Arbitration article is one of the most important articles in a union contract. For a summary of the major outstanding disputes in our negotiations see below.

Compensation: While the University has offered significant increases to minimum salaries (12.3% to 13.9%) over the next 13 months, their proposal still fails to establish equity for Fellows, and does nothing to ensure fair increases for those already above the minimums or who have provided long term research service to Columbia.

Non-Discrimination: The University continues to reject provisions that would ensure a fair and timely process for survivors to address instances of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination. Their proposal mostly makes only cosmetic changes to the existing process, which can take months to complete. Most importantly Columbia still insists that a survivor must go through the entire internal University process before even being able to appeal a dispute to a neutral arbitrator.

Leaves of Absence: The University continues to propose that an employee would be entitled to five weeks of fully-paid parental leave after one year of employment. Our proposal is that an employee would be entitled to eight weeks of fully-paid parental leave at the outset of employment.

Benefits: The University continues to propose that it retain the right to change benefits whenever it chooses, though they say they have no intention of doing so.

Effective Union Representation: Consistent with every other union contract at Columbia, we have proposed a union shop, a fair provision where all employees would be obligated to share the cost of representation by paying dues or fees. A union shop is the best way to ensure that we have adequate resources to engage in effective representation into the future. The University has rejected this very standard proposal.

We will bargain again next week and hope to have more news to report. In the meantime, please get involved and help fight for a fair contract!

March for Science NYC Fireside Chats: A Three-Part Series on Racism in STEM

March for Science NYC is dedicating their next three discussions to the topic of racism in STEM. If you are interested in participating in any of these chats, please sign up on the eventbrite link above to receive the zoom information.

Tomorrow is Juneteenth. Here are two ways to support Black Lives Matter protests in NYC.

Low Steps at Columbia at 8:46am to join with our UAW siblings across the country in 8 minutes 46 seconds of silence to honor George Floyd and other Black victims of police violence. You will also be able to join this event remotely on Zoom for those not currently able to attend protests in person.

Northwest corner of Foley Square at 1:30pm (Lafayette and Worth St). We will merge into the protest that has been called at City Hall by the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL).

In solidarity,

CPW-UAW Bargaining Committee