{"id":6863,"date":"2023-06-14T17:02:38","date_gmt":"2023-06-14T21:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/?p=6863"},"modified":"2023-06-18T17:02:52","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T21:02:52","slug":"action-required-sign-the-petition-contract-negotiation-overview-how-do-we-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/action-required-sign-the-petition-contract-negotiation-overview-how-do-we-win\/","title":{"rendered":"[ACTION REQUIRED] Sign the Petition + Contract Negotiation Overview + How do we win?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-1024x198.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5926\" srcset=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-1024x198.png 1024w, https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-300x58.png 300w, https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-768x148.png 768w, https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-1536x297.png 1536w, https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Banner-quote-Longer-2048x396.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The quick version: it\u2019s been almost two months of contract negotiations with 10 bargaining sessions &#8211;&nbsp; so let\u2019s take a step back, see where we stand and how we fight back to win a fair contract! \ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, Columbia\u2019s Administration has been dismissive on non-economic issues, and insulting on compensation (details below). We need to show our strength and unity: our work makes Columbia work! As part of this, we are currently collecting signatures in support of our core demands to be delivered to the President and Trustees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/WxjxKeXixRuRcFUT9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Can you sign and share our petition in support of our core demands?<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Can You Do Right Now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Get all of your co-workers in your lab or your department to <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/WxjxKeXixRuRcFUT9\">sign the petition<\/a>!<\/li><li>Be visibly supportive! Put up a poster on your floor or on your bench. Wear a union pin or a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cqs_bOuO8jJ\/\">union t-shirt<\/a>. Need any of the above? <a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/contact-us\/\">Contact us<\/a>!<\/li><li>Engage your co-workers in conversation about what we can do to support bargaining and fight back.<\/li><li>Join <a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.slack.com\/signup#\/domain-signup\">Slack<\/a> for updates and more conversation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where Do Negotiations Stand?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>What we demand:<\/strong><ul><li>Significant raises in salaries and benefits, which must include <em>institutional support for housing, childcare, and international workers<\/em>.<\/li><li>Recognition of Postdoctoral Fellows <a href=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/grants\/guide\/notice-files\/NOT-OD-23-111.html\">as employees, not independent contractors (as per NIH policy)<\/a>.<\/li><li>Clear and transparent protections against workplace harassment, fair guidelines for authorship and intellectual property and in support of equity and inclusion.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Columbia Admin has offered:<\/strong><ul><li>An updated minimum salary of $63,000 for Postdocs, and $69,405 for ARSs with 2.5% annual increases planned for 5 years. The overwhelming majority of us will see NO financial benefit from their proposals!<\/li><li>A pay cut when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/regions\/new-york-new-jersey\/news-release\/consumerpriceindex_newyorkarea.htm\">considering inflation<\/a> &#8212; an insulting economic offer.<\/li><li>A rejection of ALL of our main non-economic demands<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>What we won:<\/strong> Relocation costs (proposed at $1500), a Hardship Fund to cover medical emergencies (proposed at $250k for a period of 5 years &#8212; a starting offer but not enough), and they retracted language on Union Dues (they removed their proposal for an open shop).<\/li><li><strong>Where we moved:<\/strong> On vacations (a cap at 23 days for unused paid days of vacation for postdocs with less than 3 years at CU), on International Workers (a committee with Admin and Union representatives that will meet 3 times a year to discuss international worker issues).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do you want CU\u2019s offer of an effective pay cut &#8211; or do we fight for a real raise?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>During our last contract we won a minimum salary of $60k for postdocs and $66k for ARSs. Based on inflation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/data\/inflation_calculator.htm\">in today\u2019s prices our minimums should be $70k and $78k<\/a>, respectively.\u00a0<\/li><li>Other Universities in the area are increasing salaries (MSK, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Rockefeller, St. Jude\u2019s and HHMI &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/content\/article\/postdocs-need-raises-who-will-foot-bill\">some are using institutional money<\/a>, not just grants).<\/li><li>The university has the resources to support us, with more than $900 million in operating cash flows a year, and over $8 Billion unrestricted funds in the endowment (<a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/contract-campaing\/the-financial-condition-cu\/\">read the University financial report here<\/a>).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What will it take to win a real raise? We need to UNITE and FIGHT BACK!<\/strong>\u00a0Talk to your co-workers about what they are willing to do. Send us feedback by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/contact-us\/\">email<\/a>\u00a0or on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.slack.com\/signup#\/domain-signup\">Slack<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSf9JvAm0HV3KEY74w8V7lNcckyMBUf6MRjal1uF4KNz6gHFOQ\/viewform\"><strong>Join the Next Bargaining Session<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Follow our next emails with updates on future steps!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/contract-campaing\/contract-center\/\">Read reports from the bargaining sessions<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Reach out to get involved!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Follow us on social media! (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cpw_uaw\/\">IG<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CPWUAW\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.slack.com\/signup#\/domain-signup\">Slack<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Share this info with your friends and colleagues!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1HW3PkjZmIYoA0f78Op2wFTlb6s_vy4c-QYaKkior98w\/edit?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CHECK THE BARGAINING ARTICLE TRACKER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/click.actionnetwork.org\/ss\/c\/CMxF4nARlf6wAFa1PSfv0skG8WwJM-kTMg1XVB3Rtdfu2E1X1zVRRbIPXZsoq0PTJihj4yeoMlha7Z9whc1q47B6CoP_6z9N3tpvMteZbDEAbNHTpu5BFo6vZV446rSOatDQZnm2oef1ogBhKZ5r6HFUDRWsQJFNyhwvwKaYgIzfzrvpWKUR4jGBs53T7J48EA-l5vVMPNviVTuABR8ON_RIMhdzXdygsv-NNWJSK4Hwpweo_vT_gTWPXrQKMmcN4VC9ZkN2icadRAXoO43EIg_LfrM2iDI7gNOKHP5EZBVqzG57IzGUiALZnAbSWGjxQm5073s3fgjZGi0ainS5P-kXJqIL43xfY7O4NTSG9YC5g7nQEhUsuYnspUiN7ukPymYFQWVrVCyW5zo_FRzsQQi7McYTNP_L9zU_VLsqeAkJ_DB1Edn2xGRybtmiAsaMYnanFzWCOl3pBCEJA35tMFRlMO9iQRWgcaw4jlnCuN2I6hPaoSs9ToLMHahZ5Lbb\/3x1\/giyGESV-QsuuVkfkI5x7mg\/h23\/CWnLGNjHhaE-xPBnCNAZTRJLDdSbHk0gFxcIgorqf1g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>Cheers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your Friendly Neighborhood Bargaining and Organizing Committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/contact-us\/cpw-uaw-workplace-issue-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HAVE AN ISSUE? GET IN CONTACT!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>Want to stay informed? Check out <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/\"><strong><em>our website<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> and follow us on <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CPWUAW\"><strong><em>Twitter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>, <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cpw_uaw\/\"><strong><em>Instagram<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>, <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@columbiapostdocworkers\"><strong><em>TikTok<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>, <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ColumbiaPostdocUnion\"><strong><em>Facebook<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>and join our and <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/BdMzRa7RA8sXMZui6\"><strong><em>Slack<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u200b.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The quick version: it\u2019s been almost two months of contract negotiations with 10 bargaining sessions &#8211;&nbsp; so let\u2019s take a step back, see where we stand and how we fight back to win a fair contract! \ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5\ud83d\udca5 Overall, Columbia\u2019s Administration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6864,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions\/6864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbiapostdocunion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}