This past Tuesday was our first day of bargaining with Columbia, and we had fantastic turnout from our colleagues; over 33 postdocs and ARS helped pack the room and show Columbia how excited we are to bargain a fair contract. If you would like to sign up to attend a future bargaining session to come show the administration that we need improvements, sign up here!

What happened at the first bargaining session:

After introductions, we presented the Columbia administration with our Initial Bargaining Goals, which were 99% ratified by a majority of postdocs/ARS, and demonstrated our arguments for seeking improvements to the future contract. We found common ground on trying to find ways to improve stability through these uncertain times related to federal funding and attacks on international workers. Our differences however, were quite clear when we presented our four new proposals for Appointments, International Employees, Non-discrimination, and Union Access, Rights and Activity.

Appointments: In accordance with our bargaining goals, we proposed a minimum of 1 year for appointments, allowing for flexibility to elect shorter appointments when mutually agreed upon with our PI, with 6 months notice for renewal or non-renewal. The administration pushed back pointing to the faculty handbook policies and funding constraints. We explained that more predictable, stable appointments would allow postdocs and researchers to focus on our research without unnecessary distractions. Many postdocs have had to endure short term appointments in the past year, especially during the funding crisis.

International Employees: Our proposal aims to increase stability and security for those of us who are on visas, including by expanding visa options, leave for visa renewal, and protections for international researchers. While Columbia acknowledged that “it’s good to support the international community”, they dismissed our proposal as “ambitious” and engaged very little on the very real concerns that international workers have in the current climate of extreme scrutiny. They proposed only a single day of leave for visa renewals, which is entirely out of touch with real world timelines.

Non-discrimination: We proposed changes to the Non-discrimination article that establish protections against bullying, and significantly improve the process for addressing instances of bullying and discrimination with an accelerated timeline through our grievance process and interim measures. Columbia’s team said they plan to bring their own proposal on amendments to this article in the next session.

Union Access, Rights and Activity: We also proposed changes to Union Rights and Access that will improve our ability to orient new postdocs/ARS to being a part of the union, as well as provide basic demographic information to allow us to better identify potential discrimination occurring against specific workers.

Proposals made by Columbia: The administration proposal included minor changes in several articles related to arbitrators, as well as removing meetings specific to the previous contracts. They did, however, attempt to address international workers’ concerns by proposing a single day of leave for visa renewal. This is unacceptable, as typical visa renewals overseas require significantly more time to complete. They also want to have all vacation requests in writing, as well as cap the PTO payout at the end of employment to 5 days only. Lastly, they proposed removing the side letter related to the child care payment, by arguing that the increase to $5k has already been implemented. We will be bringing a proposal a child care at a later bargaining session.

Although the tone of yesterday’s session was civil, it was clear that a lot of work will be needed to show the Columbia administration why these issues matter to us. If you would like to get involved in efforts to build our contract campaign, click here, or sign up for a working group. You can also view all the proposals passed throughout the negotiations going forward in this public bargaining tracker.

What are the next steps? 

We will be bargaining again on the following dates, please register to join a session here.

Monday, April 13th, 2:00PM – 5:00PM, in Studebaker Building Room 469

Wednesday, April 29th, 1:00PM – 5:00PM, in Studebaker Building Room 469

We are negotiating more bargaining dates in May and June, to ensure we can work with management to reach agreement ahead of contract expiration. Please join the slack channel to receive updates during bargaining sessions and to discuss the proposals and reactions by Columbia. Please get in contact if you want to help organize for a fair contract.

Solidarity,

Philip Creamer, ARS, Physiology and Cellular Biophysics
CPW-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee