Click here to sign the new SPOC-UAW Membership Card!
Just three weeks ago we won a historic first contract, including immediate 24% increases to minimums backdated to 90 days before ratification – the highest base pay for postdocs across the country – fully paid parental leave, funds for childcare, housing, relocation costs, and visa renewal, new rights for international workers, protections against harassment, bullying, and unjust termination, and much more. These gains would not have been possible without years of strong majority support by postdocs across Sinai.
Now that our contract has been ratified by an overwhelming 99%, and is currently in effect, it is critical that all postdocs sign a SPOC-UAW Membership Card. Continued majority support for our union will give us more power to enforce our new rights and continue fighting for improvements, as well as giving you the right to participate in Union meetings, elections, and votes.
Under our new contract all Postdoctoral Fellows must decide, by Sunday, January 21, 2024, between signing up as a Union member and contributing membership dues, or declining membership and paying “fair share” fees. Both membership dues and fair share fees are 1.44% of gross pay with a $10 initiation or reinstatement fee, and cover the cost of representation for everyone in our bargaining unit. Non-member fair share fee-payers have the right to pay only the part of fees used directly for representation. You can read more about this here.
Choosing between these two options is a requirement to remain employed as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Even if you signed an authorization card in the past, you must sign this new card to become a member. As a reminder, we will have our first membership meeting this Thursday, January 11, at 12pm (location TBA)—RSVP here!
The more of us who sign up as members, the more power we will have to advocate for our community, enforce our rights, and fight for more. Please take a moment to sign up as a member now!
In solidarity,
Paola Bianchimano, Neurology
SPOC-UAW Organizing Committee