Yesterday, we had our 9th bargaining session with the Mount Sinai administration.
RSVP to observe our upcoming Bargaining Session on April 8th!
During this session, we presented three counterproposals on Prohibition Against Discrimination and Harassment, Discipline and Dismissal, and International Researcher Rights. We also asked clarifying questions about Sinai’s response to our Intellectual Property proposal. Throughout the session, Sinai repeatedly stressed that they hope to include as few protections and rights as possible in our collective bargaining agreement.
In our discussion of Intellectual Property, the administration explained that they rejected including authorship rights in our contract because they do not want us to be able to go to a neutral arbitrator outside of Mount Sinai to make the final determination in cases where there are disputes. Instead, Sinai hopes to keep its policy of allowing PIs and Department Chairs to unilaterally decide on authorship disputes, with no accountability through a neutral third-party determination if supervisors violate authorship norms. Authorship abuse and disputes are pervasive across academia and contribute to making Sinai a less inclusive and competitive institution.
Additionally, when asked why Sinai’s counterproposal removed a section that we proposed on ethical practices in research that directly aligns with what is written in Mount Sinai’s own official policy, Sinai’s lead negotiator responded that Sinai’s intellectual property policy – which does not discuss ethical practices at all – would be sufficient to cover this topic.
In our counterproposal on International Researcher Rights, we moved toward Sinai’s position and asked clarifying questions to inform future responses. When we asked why Sinai is refusing to reimburse international workers for administrative fees and travel expenses to obtain their visa stamp, they said this would be too expensive, despite agreeing to similar language with Sinai postdocs. We believe this reimbursement is the least that Sinai can do to support international workers’ transition to a new country and to allow them to continue their scientific work at Sinai. Not doing so would inhibit Sinai’s ability to recruit and retain top talent from across the world.
Sinai’s bargaining team’s resistance to including protections in our contract is cause for real concern. Although we made a few inroads with Sinai regarding protected categories in our Prohibition Against Discrimination and Harassment article, it is increasingly clear that we will need to do more to show Sinai that we deserve enforceable rights and protections in our contract.
Our next bargaining session will be on Wednesday, April 8, from 2 to 5 PM. You can attend the first session at 2 PM and/or the second session at 3:30 PM to get a firsthand look at the bargaining process. Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/6VAboLiNMBZUoYsr6.
To get more involved in efforts to overcome Sinai’s opposition to us having basic workplace rights and protections, click here: https://forms.gle/9aMGCDSefqgYpxpC6.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts,
In solidarity,
Azra Krek, Genetics and Genomics Department
ROCS-UAW Bargaining Committee