Postdoc observers at our bargaining session on Tuesday.
This past Tuesday, our bargaining committee had our fourth negotiation session with the Einstein administration. It was great to see several of our fellow postdocs at the session – you can RSVP for future sessions here.
Key Developments:
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We reached our first tentative agreement (TA) with Einstein’s administration on the Severability article.
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Einstein’s bargaining team presented six counter proposals: Workload, Employment Records, Job Posting, Workplace and Materials, Union Security, and Union Rights and Access.
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In addition to Severability, our committee presented counter proposals on each of the articles Einstein countered in our last session: Health and Safety, Grievance and Arbitration, Training, and Union-management Committee.
Regarding specific articles:
Regarding Health and Safety, we maintained our core positions while making minor modifications, emphasizing our goal to incorporate basic standards for a safe workplace that other unionized postdocs already have. On Grievance and Arbitration, we reasserted language that would encourage informal resolution of grievances and streamline arbitration, making the process more effective for postdocs facing issues in the workplace.
We devoted significant time to discussing Einstein’s counter proposals despite time constraints. We questioned why Einstein insisted on including a minimum number of hours in the Workload article even though postdoc schedules vary with research needs, and also why they objected to basic rights other postdocs have, such as access to their employment records after completing their appointment. We also requested clarification on their rejection of our Successorship and Academic Freedom proposals.
Einstein’s team has yet to respond to six of our proposals, including Discipline and Dismissal, Non-Discrimination and Harassment, Appointment Security, Appointments and Reappointments, Intellectual Property, and Recognition, which we proposed in the first session in early September. We look forward to discussing these articles in the upcoming sessions, which the administration has agreed to extend to three hours each. You can read the full text of our proposals in the bargaining tracker on our website.
Einstein’s team has agreed to the following dates and times for our upcoming bargaining sessions, which will be on Zoom. You can RSVP here to attend.
November 12 (Tuesday), 10 am to 1 pm
November 25 (Monday), 2 pm to 5 pm
December 5 (Thursday), 12 pm to 3 pm
December 19 (Thursday), 1 pm to 4 pm
Please let us know if you have any thoughts or questions.
In Solidarity,
Rohan Misra, Genetics
ERU-UAW Bargaining Committee