Senior researchers are the backbone of research at Sinai. We bring years of experience, drive projects forward, write and manage grants, publish impactful science, and mentor and train students, postdocs, and staff. Yet despite these contributions, we continue to face uncertainty and a lack of protections that undermine both our work and our lives.
We are excited to announce that we will hold our first bargaining session with the Mount Sinai administration tomorrow on Wednesday, October 1. Our sweeping union election win
(95% for Instructors and 91% for Scientists), followed by our bargaining goals ratification vote (100% for Instructors and 98.4% for scientists), gives us a strong mandate to negotiate for much needed improvements to our working conditions at Sinai.
We are entering bargaining at a critical time. As a union, we have been fighting and winning against the federal attacks on science funding and threats to international researchers, who make up the majority of Sinai’s research workforce. To overcome future attacks, we will need to find ways to coordinate both with other unionized workers, on campus and beyond, and the Sinai administration where possible. We can do this more effectively as an established union with a strong contract, making it all the more urgent to reach a fair agreement without unnecessary delay.
As we approach our first session, we wanted to take a moment to share what we see as our path towards a strong first contract that improves our lives and working conditions, and how we intend to promote a transparent and representative bargaining process in order to reach that goal.
Our Path Towards a Strong Contract
As the bargaining committee, we will fight for a contract that makes Sinai more accessible, inclusive, and competitive by securing essential workplace protections and benefits.
To ensure this, we will:
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Make every effort to keep all senior researchers informed throughout bargaining
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Encourage a majority of senior researchers to participate in the process of winning a strong contract
We hope Sinai does not oppose key priorities as they did when bargaining with the postdocs. Many of us were postdocs before advancing to senior researcher positions, and we have seen how the improvements won in the SPOC contract benefited Sinai by allowing us to focus more on producing quality research, and making the institution more competitive in recruiting and retaining talent. We know that in order to win the strongest possible contract it is critical that a strong majority of us support our bargaining demands by actively participating in the process. We will use multiple strategies from our own and other campaigns to make it as easy as possible for all senior researchers to stay informed and participate:
Grassroots organizing: We will continue to engage in local outreach to help each other stay updated, informed, and provide lines of ongoing communication with the bargaining committee, building on the strong track record of majority participation and support throughout our campaign so far. If you want to get involved in organizing, please let us know here!
Bargaining updates: We will provide regular, timely updates on bargaining sessions to keep senior researchers informed of which proposals are being passed, as well as any progress or challenges in the negotiations.
Regular town-halls: We will host regular town halls to give updates on our progress, to get feedback on updated proposals and to answer any questions.
Open email communication: We remain committed to being responsive to the priorities and needs of all Sinai senior researchers by answering any emails that you send to info@sinairesearchersunion.org with specific concerns in a timely manner.
Topic-specific working groups: We plan to establish working groups as needed to provide support with the bargaining process. These groups will stay in regular contact with the bargaining committee in order to assist with research, give feedback on proposals, and drive issue-based campaigns that add to our leverage at the bargaining table.
Open negotiation sessions: While actual negotiation sessions will be between our bargaining committee and Sinai’s administrative team, we welcome interested supporters who would like to attend a session, we just ask that you reach out to us in advance at info@sinairesearchersunion.org to prepare. We plan to bargain intensively to achieve the best contract as soon as possible and will post bargaining dates on our website as soon as they are scheduled.
Sidebar conversations: “Sidebar” or off-the-record conversations between our bargaining committee and the administration can be a useful tool at the negotiation table when on-the-record negotiation reaches a roadblock, particularly for exploring underlying reasons for lack of progress that Sinai might not otherwise communicate. As a committee, we will make sure the entire bargaining committee is aware of the sidebar and agrees before using this tactic.
Bargaining Goals: We put great effort into incorporating as much feedback as possible into an inclusive set of initial bargaining goals to guide us in negotiations, drawing on surveys by a supermajority of senior researchers, electronic feedback, town halls, and hundreds of individual conversations, as well as best standards across the academic sector and other unionized institutions.
In solidarity,
ROCS-UAW Bargaining Committee
Piyush Kumar (Instructor)
Elza Rechtman (Instructor)
Gowthamee Ravanapuram-Thangavel (Associate Scientist)
Conrad Iyegbe (Instructor)
Samir Rahman (Associate Scientist)