The first union for postdoctoral researchers + fellows and associate researchers in a US private institution (
@Columbia
) | RTs ≠ endorsements | (they/them)
🚨 We are excited to report that out of the almost 1000 postdocs and research scientists that cast a ballot in our historic strike authorization vote, 98% of members voted YES ✊🏽🔥
Stay tuned for updates on our campaign as we take collective action to achieve a strong contract
📜We have a new contract! 🎉🎉🎉
After receiving a new tentative agreement last week, we ran a ratification vote - whereby 89.4% of postdocs and associate researchers voted to approve the contract!
This contract will now go into effect!
In the lead-up to our upcoming second-contract negotiations
@Columbia
has been secretly removing workers from our unit. They want to divide us and decrease our collective power. And we have the receipts to prove it. A thread 🧵 (1/11)
We are excited to read about
@SW_Columbia
tentative agreement and looking forward to working side by side to improve the conditions of academic workers at Columbia University!
🚨 Today *hundreds* of postdocs walked out out their labs and offices to tell President Shafik and
@columbia
Board of Trustees, loud and clear, that we deserve a fair contract and we will not stop until we get it. We are
#STRIKEREADY
⚡️⚡️⚡️
We have reached a tentative agreement! After 16 months of bargaining and years of organizing we have won important improvements to our rights and working conditions. Please join us for a town hall Wed, 7/1 at 6:00pm. Register here: More details to follow.
📢 Today we are launching an online petition together with
@AAUPCU
to demand that
@columbia
refunds all officers the retirement contributions that were curtailed during the pandemic. You can read the petition and sign 👇 Please RT and 📢 share! A 🧵1/5
CPW-UAW, the union of Columbia postdocs and associate researchers is here and ready to bargain! We are here to negotiate our second contract ✊
#cpw
#bargaining
#unionpower
🚨COMPENSATION ALERT🚨 Since the reappointment of many of our members
@Columbia
takes place in July and 2.5% increases are mandated as per our contract, we want to clarify a few points re: our contract that happen to be outright classic
#UNIONBUSTING
arguments. A 🧵 (1/6):
🚨 With
@Columbia
admin being so unreasonable, the conversation has shifted from whether we are going to strike to *WHEN* that will happen. If these ridiculous proposals continue tomorrow, stay tuned for a
#strike
deadline announcement 💥💥💥
📚 Yesterday we made herstory together President Shafik. Thank you for this shout-out! Now we hope that you transmit this urgency for a fair contract to Dan Driscoll & the rest of your bargaining team.
👂 We will be all ears at today’s bargaining session
💥We are
#STRIKEREADY
Today we delivered a letter signed by more than 600 postdocs to
@Columbia
’s new President, Nemat Shafik!
After months of negotiations, we are firmly demanding a fair contract with significant compensation, recognition of all workers, childcare, & protections against harassment.
@MorePerfectUS
Thanks for the interest in our campaign! Just one minor detail: we are already unionized and won our first contract in 2020. This contract expired last June and
@Columbia
has been extremely dismissive during bargaining, so we voted to authorize a
#strike
✊🏽
Dr. Friedman has worked for
@Columbia
for 27 years, most prominently as a bioinformatics consultant supporting scores of labs authoring over 80 publications. He is outraged at the University's suspension of retirement benefits
#COVID19
#austeritymeasures
💸
#CUretirement
TUGSA's fight is a fight for EVERYONE in higher ed who believes we deserve respect, dignity, and living wages. Temple admins want to illegally break grad workers: let's show them who runs their university. Donate to the strike fund (below) and join the picket line.
1/2
🚨UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE ALERT🚨
Last week our union had no choice but to file a ULP with
@NLRB
against
@Columbia
on the grounds of not bargaining in good faith. 🧵with the reasons why we served them:
Great news! The NLRB just set our election dates and determined that all postdocs will have the right to vote. They rejected Columbia’s efforts to exclude more than 1,000 of us. Read the NLRB's decision here:
Our
@GWCUAW
union siblings will be going on strike on Monday for a fair contract. After two years of negotiations,
@Columbia
is denying them many of the protections we achieved in our first contract. Please donate to the hardship fund if you can!
#CUonStrike
#CUContractNow
David Sabatini was investigated and found guilty of sexual harassment. He was fired by Broad and HHMI for breaking sexual conduct policies.
@nyugrossman
is now considering hiring him, a known predator 😱 Say NO! by joining the NYU walkout today wherever you are
#SayNoToSabatini
Downtown at NYU but still want to join the protest tomorrow? Nyu students are walking out at 1:15 to join our colleagues uptown at Langone. Meet in front of
@nyusilver
to take the subway to the 2pm protest.
@nyustudentgov
@nyuydsa
@nyuresearchers
During our last bargaining session we had
@MSMauro_
join our bargaining committee to tell
@Columbia
administrators how hard it is to live on 60k/year (or the ridiculous *63k/year* they last proposed) in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
A 🧵 (1/17)
#faircontractNOW
Dr.
@a_bartolome
had 3 jobs during the pandemic: his own research on diabetes, a COVID project to shed light on SARS-CoV-2* and HOMESCHOOLING. He also volunteered 40h with
@Columbia_CRAC
´s COVID Biobank.
@Columbia
recognized his efforts by freezing his retirement contributions 💸
The
@uaw
constitution was amended today to include higher education under its jurisdiction, strengthening its commitment to organizing academic workplaces!
“We made history...”
Yesterday the NLRB counted our ballots. We voted 68% union yes.
#columbiauniveristy
is now the first private university with a
#postdocunion
.
It's time for
@Columbia
to come to the bargaining table bringing reasonable proposals for our essential worker peers!!!
#faircontract
for
@2110for1M1V
@1199SEIU
📢📢📢 Join us in the picket line this Thurs 11am @ College Walk
Without us, Columbia can't run. Yet CU refuses to pay us our fair share. For months, we workers who make CU function have bargained w/ reasonable demands, costing a fraction of the $14 BILLION CU has in the bank. Join our picket w/
@1199SEIU
this Thurs as we say: CU, PAY UP!
Congratulations to our colleagues at Mt. Sinai who reached a tentative agreement!
Who’s got the power?
We’ve got the power!
What kind of power?
UNION POWER!
After a 12-day strike we have reached a tentative agreement with
@IcahnMountSinai
! This is a massive achievement and would not have been possible without years of efforts by hundreds of postdocs and our incredible allies who stood with us ✊🏽
#1u
📢 Big 🏆 today as delegates brought up a resolution
@UAW
convention to start collecting strike pay from day 1, and voted in favor almost unanimously! This measure will make short, strategic stoppages viable for postdocs and ARS!
Concerted, relentless work by
@CPWUAW
+
@GWCUAW
parent workers has highlighted the extreme difficulties that parents face in Academia. We keep on working to support our female coworkers during the pandemic and beyond. Join us!
⚡️ Postdocs in NYC have had ENOUGH! Join us and
@SPOCUAW
for mass meetings on 7/26 to determine next steps to reach fair contracts and a more just and equitable working environment for postdocs at our respective institutions, without further delays.
#FairColumbiaNow
#FairContract
📢Did you know that Monday is President´s day, a holiday recognized in our contract? Come rally and march to PrezBo's mansion with our
@cu_racollective
siblings to demand recognition for their union. See you 4.30pm at the sundial in front of Low Library!
By the end of 2020, we were informed that in anticipation of a financial cataclysm, officers (research, instruction and administration) would see their retirement contributions "moderated" to a minimum, after a year when everyone went the extra mile to maintain
@columbia
open 2/5
ICYMI, after a week-long strike Hunts Point workers with
@TeamstersJC16
won a fair contract yesterday with their largest pay increase in decades!
We're excited for the workers and proud that
@UAW
members walked the picket line with them. Collective action gets it done!
#1u
🎉 A majority of NYU researchers have signed a Union Authorization Card to form our union 🎉
We’re excited to join thousands of researchers across the country who have organized for a voice over our working conditions, including most recently at Sinai and Columbia here in NYC!
Dr. Campbell (
@sciclyst
) is a passionate scientist/loving mom who went the extra mile during the pandemic: she helped provide childcare to essential workers in the NYC area + organized for a 🚼 benefit
@columbia
. But she now sees the future of her family withheld for no reason 💸
Hey postdocs! Join us on the picket line today at 116/Broadway with our graduate coworkers
@GWCUAW
#CUonStrike
fighting for a fair contract with real protections against harassment and discrimination
Dear
@Columbia
trustees: given your inability to understand why we reclaim OUR lost retirement contributions & since we are academic scholars: here is a graphical abstract to explain our demands. 700 officers have signed our petition✍️QR code or LINK in comments 💸
#CUretirement
IT'S BARGAINING SESSION
#2
Our bargaining team are meeting with the Columbia administration to continue bargaining our next contract - with a room full of postdocs & ARSs joining in support!
If you are a CPW-UAW member - keep an eye on Slack / emails for updates!
Our colleagues at
@spocuaw
are ON STRIKE!!!!
CPW is here in support - because all postdocs and research scientists deserve a FAIR CONTRACT!
Join their picket line, support their strike fund and demand Sinai make a FAIR OFFER!
✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
The facts are IN:
@Columbia
postdocs are among the most dissatisfied with working conditions and -🤡 surprise!- HOUSING in one the most expensive cities in the world. We have been demanding a housing stipend but the admin refuses to support this basic necessity 🏠 💸
1146 postdocs from 8 major NYC academic institutions answered our survey on working conditions. We present our summary report to read and share:
Conclusion: NYC postdocs are dissatisfied with the combination of low salaries and high cost of living in NYC.
CONGRATULATIONS
@spocuaw
! We are both elated about your landslide victory and really proud of your campaign! Looking forward to improving working conditions for NYC postdocs!
#unionFUCKyeah
!
The ballots have been counted and we WON OUR UNION with 89.5% of
#postdocs
voting yes! The strength of this vote gives us a clear mandate for bargaining.
@IcahnMountSinai
, we look forward to meeting you at the bargaining table. Stmt:
Dear
@Columbia
: we are still waiting to meet about the long overdue refund of lost retirement contributions 💸 for officers. Read this letter of support from US Congress
@RepEspaillat
urging you to do so. 800+ ✍️ headed your way to Low Library soon!
🚨 IT'S HAPPENING 🚨 NYC Postdoc Power! Two UAW Postdoctoral Researcher Units to Begin Strike Authorization Votes Next Week | New York City Central Labor Council
✍️Moreover, over 130 new workers have signed a membership card to officially join our union since bargaining started, greatly building our power ⚡️
Haven’t signed yet? 👇🏾
We won our union! We are the largest union of federal employees to form in more than a decade, and the first union of Fellows ever at a federal research facility. We’ve made history together. 💪
Good morning
@columbia
endowment,
Do you know what would be cuter than "thank you" notes, banners and posters? It's SIMPLE: a retroactive refund of the pension money that you owe us officers
THANK YOU!
Yours,
CPW-UAW 4100 + AAUP-Columbia
📢 Congratulations on filing for an election! We have no doubt you will win your union like we did a day like today, 5 years ago! Get up, get down: New York is a union town! ✊🏽💥✊🏽
We had a great first postdoc orientation and social at the Columbia University Medical Center, introducing our union, sharing tips on working at Columbia, and getting to know each other!
Next up: Morningside campus orientation & social, Thursday, September 15th @ 6 pm!
Next up in bargaining committee introductions -
@thiagoarzua
(he/him) 🇧🇷
Thiago was born and raised in Curitiba, Brazil, up until he finished high school and had the opportunity to move to the U.S.
CPW-UAW bargaining committee commences first day of bargaining after postdocs and associate research scientists ratify bargaining goals by 98%!
#unionstrong
#1u
#postdocunion
#uaw
In bargaining,
@Columbia
has proposed no increase to the minimum salary and no guaranteed annual increases. Columbia is falling behind other NYC research intuitions and needs to do the right thing and adequately compensate researchers.
#contractnow
#1u
#uaw
#postdocunion
In september 2021 we learned that not only did these revenue losses never materialize, but
@columbia
earned $150M and the endowment grew from $11.3B to $14.35B. Notably, similar measures at
@JohnsHopkins
were reversed upon a faculty-driven audit 👩🎓👨🎓 that proved no losses 3/5
In some departments, admins are arguing raises above 2.5% are PROHIBITED by the contract. Not only FALSE but it's DESPICABLE to make such argument. Art 5 Section 2 :“Nothing shall preclude the University from providing compensation at rates above required in this Article” (2/6)
✊🏽 It's not the first time that admins use FEAR as part of their union-busting strategy, specially using immigration status. On Friday the head of HR
@Columbia
sent postdocs and ARS an email full of misleading/misrepresenting/inaccurate information re: strike. The facts 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
Importantly, this contract was won through union power - we organized and fought for this contract, including being ready to strike if we did not receive an acceptable offer!
We want to thank and congratulate all the CPW members who fought for this!
Bargaining starts this Thursday, April 20th - and we're kicking it off with a START OF BARGAINING RALLY!
This Thursday, April 20th, at 9 am, meet at the Square next to Studebaker, where bargaining will take place! Come and show solidarity and support our bargaining committee!
Solidarity from your siblings from
@CPWUAW
! We
#StandUpUAW
with you as you inspire us in the fight for equity and a fair contract, we ourselves are getting
#strikeready
⚡️✊🏽⚡️
🕴️♂️While
@Columbia
admins are laughing at us at the bargaining table at this very moment,
@Nature
is clear and we know this: we will get a fair contract, the easy way or the hard way. We are
#strikeready
💥💥💥