”The clear signs of Sinai’s unwillingness and their unprepared stance to timely tackle the economic proposal was eye-opening – Constantin Ruprecht, Postdoc in Genetics & Genomic Sciences
Sinai made very little progress during our 24th bargaining session today. While we reached a tentative agreement on Union Access, on Discrimination and Harassment, Sinai made no changes to their last proposal. On Grievance and Arbitration, they clarified their language, and we made a counter-proposal. Most disappointingly, Sinai was again unprepared to respond to the economic articles we presented more than 6 weeks ago on June 27. In an attempt to explain this slow progress, Sinai gave a number of excuses, including the need to ask different departments for information and that “many key people are on vacation.”
We have heard many of the same excuses used since the beginning of the bargaining process. When we voted for our union with a 90% majority over a year ago, we established a mandate for urgent improvements. But Sinai clearly is not respecting this mandate, even telling us in today’s session that postdocs’ support “makes no difference” to them.
Sinai is obviously not prioritizing giving postdocs basic workplace rights and livable financial conditions. They would rather go on vacation, and send misleading emails threatening international postdocs’ visa status, while we keep the science running. In order to demonstrate the unity and power away from the table that we need to reach a fair contract as soon as possible, and to overcome Sinai’s disinterest in Postdoc working conditions, the Bargaining Committee strongly encourages you to vote YES on tomorrow’s Strike Authorization Vote (SAV). While we hope that we ultimately do not have to go on strike, we are prepared to do so if necessary to to fight for what we deserve and need.
Our strike authorization vote starts tomorrow (Thursday), August 10 at 10am.
- Voting Method: Voting will be held electronically via a secret ballot.
- Voter Eligibility: All postdocs who are currently employed at Sinai and who have filled out a SPOC-UAW authorization card or filled out a bargaining survey are eligible to vote. If you have not previously filled out either an authorization card or bargaining survey, you may do so at any time in order to receive your ballot.
- How to Vote: You should receive an email from ElectionBuddy with your ballot at 10am on Thursday, August 10 or soon after you sign an authorization card or bargaining survey if the vote has already begun. Please check your spam, junk, and promotions folders, and if you cannot locate your ballot, email us at elections@sinaipostdocunion.
org.
Know before you vote!
- Get more involved with your union and make a plan with your colleagues to turn out the vote!
- Check out our updated FAQ page for answers to questions you might have. Importantly:
- The vote is by secret ballot and all postdocs are protected from retaliation by national labor laws
- If Sinai chooses to withdraw pay or benefits during a strike, we can receive weekly strike pay and benefits with the help of the UAW strike fund
- International researchers have the same right as U.S. citizens to participate in a strike authorization vote and strike
- Read the latest version of our contract proposals in the tracker here and join our next bargaining session on August 29, 9-11am
- Contact us at organizing@sinaipostdocunion.
org if you have any questions
In solidarity,
The SPOC-UAW Bargaining Committee
Lukas Bethlehem, Immunology
Andrea Joseph, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences
Pablo Knobel, Environmental Medicine & Public Health
Elza Rechtman, Environmental Medicine & Public Health
Pooja Viswanathan, Neuroscience