Click here to RSVP for our Bargaining Update Town Hall TOMORROW (11/9) at 12pm
Today our elected bargaining committee met with the Sinai administration for our third bargaining session, after an extended break due to scheduling issues on Sinai’s side. At our last session on October 11, we gave Sinai 16 proposals on non-economic rights and protections.
Despite the month-long break, Sinai’s team had only seven counter-proposals today: Job Posting, Training, Grievance and Arbitration, Discipline and Dismissal, Union-Management Committee, Union Access and Rights, and Workspace and Materials.
This session, we proposed two more non-economic articles to Sinai’s team: Prohibition Against Discrimination & Harassment and Health & Safety, bringing the total number of articles we have proposed to eighteen. Our Prohibition Against Discrimination & Harassment proposal would meaningfully extend the institute’s existing policies to protect against all forms of discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment and abusive conduct, establish preventative measures, and provide recourse in cases where these issues do take place. Our Health & Safety proposal would ensure that Postdoctoral Fellows can address health concerns and maintain safe working environments more efficiently than before.
You can find all of the new proposals and counter-proposals from today’s session here.
Last session, Sinai administration proposed ground rules that both parties would follow during the bargaining sessions. We believe that the combination of a mutually agreed deadline and a predictable schedule would be a useful framework for making more efficient progress. Therefore, we proposed adding the start of the new fiscal year, January 1, 2023, as a target date for reaching a full agreement on a contract, and added a commitment by both sides to bargain at least once per week. Disappointingly, Sinai’s team rejected both additions.
Sinai’s team proposed two more bargaining session dates:
- Tuesday, November 22, 9am-11am
- Tuesday, December 6, 9am-11am
We accepted these dates but proposed extended meetings from 8am to 12pm on each day, and scheduling smaller group meetings weekly between now and the week of December 6 in order to have sufficient time to discuss proposals. We are waiting for their response. Click here to RSVP to attend one of the currently scheduled sessions.
We will be holding a Town Hall meeting tomorrow (Thursday, November 10) at 12pm, in Annenberg room A5-205 (5th floor) to provide an update on bargaining. Please join us to meet with other postdocs, hear an update on the current status of negotiations, and get answers to any questions you may have. Food and beverages will be provided. RSVP here: https://forms.gle/
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts.
In solidarity,
Lukas Bethlehem,
Immunology and Genetics & Genomic Sciences
SPOC-UAW Bargaining Committee