Postdocs at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) are fighting to secure our first contract almost two years after voting overwhelmingly to form a union. In November 2023, postdocs voted by 99% to establish Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs United-UAW (WCMPU-UAW) to address critical issues like salaries below NYC’s higher education standards, disadvantageous housing and childcare options, job insecurity, and lack of protection against harassment and discrimination. Postdocs are also pushing to secure additional protections for international workers, such as fair visa renewal leave. These demands highlight the Union’s commitment to addressing the daily challenges postdocs face in a high-cost city like New York.

To date, the elected bargaining committee of postdocs has been engaged in thirty-two negotiation sessions with WCM. Progress has been made in a number of areas, with the Union and WCM reaching tentative agreements on articles including salaries consistent with Mount Sinai’s, the option of four additional weeks of paid family leave matching New York State programs, enforceable and timely protections against sexual harassment, and reimbursement of up to $1500 for visa renewal costs. Additionally, after months of sustained organizing, WCM finally dropped its demand for a three-month probationary period, a win that will especially benefit international postdocs vulnerable to unfair terminations.

Despite these wins, a major roadblock is Weill Cornell’s insistence on a “Force majeure” proposal, which the Union has unequivocally rejected. WCM could trigger this article in the event of an economic emergency, which the administration has stated already exists due to federal funding uncertainty. After a minimal bargaining window, postdocs would be forced to accept unilateral changes to our salaries and benefits, undermining everything that we have fought for over the past two years.

The postdoc community is concerned about these provisions. An observer at a recent bargaining sessions shared these fears:

“I’m really worried that the university administration is preparing for major changes like restructuring leading to layoffs. What scares me most is that postdocs like myself, especially the most vulnerable ones (like those on visas), will be the first to feel that. I know academia is going through very hard times, but for most postdocs, this is about survival, and WCM’s current layoff proposal is completely unresponsive to that.

I’m afraid the university won’t think twice about sacrificing us. I do not feel protected at all, being able to be laid off at WCM’s whim with minimal notice.”

—WCM Postdoctoral Associate at the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI)

Moreover, citing current threats to research funding, WCM recently introduced a layoff provision. In an effort to bridge the gap with WCM, WCMPU-UAW has engaged with this layoff proposal—a substantial departure from the Mount Sinai contract, which prohibits layoffs. WCMPU-UAW proposed a provision that would provide a clear process, timeline, and protections for postdocs laid off by WCM, and which could only be used in response to economically exigent circumstances. By setting up reasonable guidelines for circumstances in which layoffs can be applied, postdocs demonstrated a willingness to compromise and acknowledge the current issues affecting research funding.

At the time of writing, with the hope of winning a fair first contract, the Union has scheduled two additional bargaining dates before the end of July. Postdocs have shown support with visible actions like a rally outside the main campus, letters to the Dean, and participation as spectators at online and in-person sessions. If WCM continues to insist on proposals that make postdoc positions increasingly unstable, however, postdocs are prepared to escalate these actions. In April, a supermajority of postdocs voted by 92% to authorize a strike if circumstances justify, while continuing to fight back alongside other UAW members against cuts to federal research funding. The message is clear: postdocs are allies in efforts to defend science, but we will not wait indefinitely for a fair contract that elevates our working standards and provides essential protections in the current environment.

You can track updates from WCMPU-UAW’s bargaining committee at https://wcmpostdocunion.org.

This article was authored by members of the organizing committee. Members of the WCMPU-UAW bargaining committee were not involved in its preparation.