{"id":6840,"date":"2023-05-22T18:14:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T22:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/?p=6840"},"modified":"2023-05-22T18:14:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T22:14:41","slug":"may-19th-6th-negotiating-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/may-19th-6th-negotiating-session\/","title":{"rendered":"May 19th, 6th NEGOTIATING SESSION"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 19th, 10:45 am @ Studebaker, 469<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For background – this session wasn\u2019t on our original schedule, but was recently added to the schedule – planned as a special session targeted to discuss the topic of childcare given that due to Columbia’s denial on hybrid bargainign has made difficult for the mom on our bargaining committee to attend all the sessions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived at 10:45 am. The Columbia administration arrived around 10:55 am, and we got started. This was a smaller session – at the start we had 4 of our bargaining team present, as well as our UAW servicing representative, and 3 members sitting in on the session. The Columbia team had just 3 of their members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an opening statement from our side, our bargaining committee member Sumaira started with an opening statement emphasizing the need for better childcare support. She presented key points relating to the need for childcare support for postdocs – to better support parents, especially as a support for women in science at a stage in their career when we know there are various pressures that often push women out of academia around the postdoc stage. Sumaira also outlined the challenges of childcare when working at Columbia – including high costs of childcare in New York City, pressures that mean that families often live further away and have to commute, and the challenges of scheduling and maintaining lab research when you have childcare needs and available options are often economically unavailable. As part of this overview, our bargaining team presented the proposed changes relating to childcare, which include a 10,000$ childcare subsidy available per child, a demand that Columbia maintain access to sponsored backup childcare programs, having on-site childcare centers at each campus, and support for an adoption assistance program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Columbia side responded, in a response given by Dan Driscoll. The preamble included their statements that they think childcare is important for all parents working in the university, and that they have made commitments over the years, like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n