Today was our second day on strike and it was great to see hundreds of postdocs and many new faces, despite the cold! You can sign up here for tomorrow’s picket shift.
If you wish to receive strike pay and health benefits, please come to the picket line tomorrow to get signed up. Staff from the UAW Strike Assistance department were present today and will return tomorrow – it is important that you get signed up this week, so that you can be paid from our strike fund if Sinai chooses to dock our pay.
Sinai has continued to stall on responding to our most recent contract proposal, which is geared towards making our workplace more equitable and inclusive for postdocs through family-friendly benefits and extended access to affordable housing.
After getting started on the picket line at 9am, we rallied in front of Icahn with elected and community allies from across New York City – NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, NYC Council Member Tiffany Caban, and Working Families Party Co-Chairs Jasmine Gripper and Ana Maria Archila. We braved one of the first snows of the year, had a self defense lesson led by one of our colleagues that helped keep us warm, and finished strong on our picket line in front of Annenberg.
At this stage in negotiations, our priority is winning dedicated support for equity to help Sinai postdocs who face structural obstacles stay in academia, like parents and our most rent-burdened colleagues.
Picket Schedule, TOMORROW (Friday), 12/7/23
- 9am: START Check-in at Annenberg
- 10am: Picketing with NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
- 11:30am: Stretching Class
- 12pm: Rally with Sinai nurses, residents, and NYC postdocs
- 2pm: Picketing with NY State Senator Cordell Cleare
- 3pm: Picket Chants Lesson
- 4pm: Peak Power Picket
Sinai responds on attestations
This evening Sinai responded to our request to bargain over their unilateral, and therefore unlawful, decision to ask postdocs to fill out daily attestations tracking our work. We will meet with Sinai’s bargaining team tomorrow at 12pm about this issue. If you would like to observe, click here to RSVP.
Today on the picket line postdocs circulated an open letter urging Mount Sinai to retract their unilateral change, and instead stay focused on reaching a fair agreement. Click here to sign the open letter.
While most PIs have so far respected our right to strike, we have also heard of some faculty making inappropriate and potentially unlawful comments to postdocs. This shows that our work stoppage is making the value of our labor more visible. Please let us know if you experience any concerning discussions with faculty about our strike.
And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any other questions or concerns you may have.
See you tomorrow!
SPOC-UAW Organizing Committee
