Today we reached a tentative agreement for our first contract with the Mount Sinai administration. We are very proud to have won many substantive and important improvements in every major area we set as a priority. These gains are the direct result of tireless organizing, nearly 16 months of bargaining, and our powerful historic strike. Together, we fought, and we won. Read more about the Tentative Agreement here.
Take the Straw Poll on whether to pause our strike during the ratification vote
In response to our demand for greater equity in Mount Sinai, today the administration proposed the establishment of an emergency fund, to which they will contribute $50,000 per year, for expenses related to childcare, housing, and other forms of financial hardship. In exchange, we agreed to withdraw our proposal for employer contributions to the dependent care flexible spending account, and accepted their proposal for three years of guaranteed Sinai housing. While we believe Sinai can and should do more, the emergency support fund is a major win, and is an important step in our fight for equity in science.
We are proud that this agreement includes new salary rates that, to our knowledge, would make postdoc minimum salaries at Mount Sinai the highest in the country, if ratified. It would also establish a number of new workplace rights for researchers that would make Sinai more equitable and inclusive, including protections against unfair termination, new rights for international workers, neutral resolution of grievances, stronger protections against discrimination, harassment, and bullying, paid parental leave, and enforceable rights to quality housing.
Straw Poll and Next Steps:
We recommend ratification of this tentative agreement and we expect voting to begin tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime we are seeking input on whether to pause striking during the vote.
- This straw poll will provide valuable feedback for us to make a collective decision on this question.
- The poll will remain open until 11:00am tomorrow (Monday).
- We will discuss the results of the poll after it closes and whether to pause the strike, at a Town Hall Meeting at 12pm.”
- If we decide to continue striking during our vote, the first picket shifts of the day tomorrow will be the 1:00pm shift. If we collectively decide to pause the strike tomorrow morning, no need to report to your picket shifts.
RSVP for a Town Hall on Monday, 12/18 at 12pm over Zoom to discuss the tentative agreement.
Contract Ratification Vote:
We will follow up soon with logistical information for voting on whether to ratify this agreement as our first union contract. To be eligible to vote you must have signed an authorization card and be currently employed as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Mount Sinai.
SPOC-UAW Bargaining Committee
Lukas Bethlehem
Andrea Joseph
Pablo Knobel
Pooja Viswanathan