TOMORROW (3/7): Rally with NYC researchers at “Stand Up for Science”!
After our bargaining session on Friday, February 28th, we responded to Einstein’s suggestion by bringing three close-to-agreement counter proposals to our Wednesday, March 5th session: Job Posting, Union Security, and Workspace and Materials. In these counterproposals, we moved our position toward Einstein’s to address their concerns while still reflecting postdocs’ demands. The session’s discussions make us hopeful that we can achieve Tentative Agreements on these articles within the next sessions.
While we continue being responsive to Einstein’s positions, we were once again disappointed by the counterproposals our administration brought to the bargaining table. In their counter on Appointments and Reappointments, Einstein undermined their commitment to solely discipline or dismiss postdocs for just cause by newly introducing a 6-month probationary period. This would go below current practice at Einstein and falls short of established workplace protections for all other unionized postdocs, which do not have probationary periods in their contracts. Einstein’s proposal would allow them to unfairly terminate postdocs without a performance-related reason at the start of our appointments, after many of us have just arrived from across the world, having uprooted our families and our lives, in order to work at Einstein.
Their proposal on International Postdoctoral Fellow Rights also failed to engage with our proposed provisions that would establish reliable support for international scientists. Additionally, Einstein refused to commit to having the terms of this article be enforceable through a neutral third party.
Together, these two counter proposals reflect a disturbing lack of awareness from Einstein regarding the uncertainty and anxiety being experienced by our postdoctoral community, which consists of 85% international workers, in light of recent attacks on the scientific community and the Trump administration’s track record of targeting international scholars.
Einstein’s actions show that we have to keep organizing and demonstrating to the administration that they must take our demands seriously. With our collective power, we can win a fair and enforceable contract that will make Einstein a better workplace for all of us.
Our next in-person session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 19th, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET. Click here to RSVP if you’d like to attend this or a future session and see the process firsthand!
You can access the full text of these proposals using our online bargaining tracker.
As always, we encourage you to reach out with any questions, concerns, or feedback by simply replying to this email.
In Solidarity,
Silvia C Hernandez
ERU-UAW Bargaining Committee