On Wednesday, November 12th, we had our 30th bargaining session with the Einstein administration.
In this session, we reasserted our demands on International Postdoctoral Fellow Rights, demanding that Einstein:
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sponsor us for the maximum duration of the applicable visa;
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provide us with financial support for visa-related expenses; and
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give us the right to request a specific type of visa based on our circumstances without the request being unreasonably denied.
Additionally, we also pressed Einstein on a strong commitment to Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation by reasserting our language that:
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prohibits any kind of bullying, mistreatment, or abusive conduct;
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establishes clear protected characteristics for which discrimination and harassment are prohibited; and
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guarantees immediate supportive measures for postdocs who file a grievance alleging a violation of this Article.
Encouragingly, Einstein seemed to be amenable to some of the key demands in our counterproposals. This change in tone was at least in part due to the numerous postdocs that had joined the session as observers.
We also received counterproposals from Einstein and were disappointed to see that they continue to propose workplace rights and protections for postdocs that are below the standards for unionized postdocs at other New York City institutions, such as at Mount Sinai (SPOC-UAW) and Weill Cornell Medicine (WCMPU-UAW).
In Discipline and Dismissal, Einstein rejected continuing the current status quo practice of holding a progress meeting after a termination notice is given to a postdoc so that the postdoc has the chance to improve their performance and get the dismissal revoked. This is an example of Einstein attempting to take away one of our current rights, which is memorialized in the Einstein Postdoc Termination Policy.
For Appointment Security: Appointments and Reappointments, unfortunately, Einstein is still not providing postdocs with adequate job security and is rejecting our demand for longer appointment and reappointment lengths, along with our demand for appointment security.
We will need to put more collective pressure on our administration to provide postdocs with secure working conditions as well as equitable and enforceable rights to alleviate the uncertainty we are facing in these unprecedented times. Postdocs at Weill Cornell Medicine just ratified their contract less than two weeks ago, showing that employers are able to commit to strong workplace rights and protections and improved benefits for postdocs even in the current political climate.
Other articles discussed in the session were our counter on Intellectual Property and Accessibility and Accommodations, and Einstein’s counter on Employment Records.
Our next in-person session is scheduled for Wednesday, December 03, 2025, from 1:30 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!
As always, we encourage you to reach out with any questions, concerns, or feedback by simply replying to this email.
In Solidarity,
Juliane Grimm, Cell Biology
ERU-UAW Bargaining Committee