On Thursday, February 26th, we held our 24th bargaining session with the University. While we made some important advances, key articles remain stalled due to the University’s inaction or refusal to meet some of our core demands.
We reached a (Tentative) Tentative Agreement on International Researcher Rights. Our agreement guarantees visa sponsorship for international postdocs for the maximum duration of the applicable visa (to the extent permitted by law and regulations) and allows us to request specific visas tailored to our needs. Details about coverage of initial visa application and renewal fees, associated expenses to ensure there is no lapse in visa/work authorization, and paid time for visa renewal travel, will be discussed when we bargain economic-related articles.
The University has not responded to our proposal on Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation, despite the letter signed by over 80% of our unit refusing their attempt to unacceptably delay our access to the grievance and arbitration process, as well as waive our rights to pursue legal action, in cases of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation. Our position is firm and clear: we want access to a timely grievance procedure that matches that of other unionized institutions in NYC, and we will not tolerate any reduction in our status quo rights.
We are closer to an agreement on Appointments and Appointment Security: some key demands have been met, such as the 6-month notice of non-renewal and the requirement that appointments be as long as fellowships when awarded to a postdoc. The remaining disputes focus on job stability to end the unfair practice of excessively short contracts or repeated notices of non-renewal.
In addition, we re-proposed articles on Intellectual Property and Research Integrity. Our Intellectual Property proposal from September has gone unanswered for five months. We hope that the University will engage with our new proposals in good faith so we can reach an agreement on these articles that meets or exceeds what is afforded to postdoctoral workers at Weill Cornell and Mount Sinai for these subjects.
We have achieved these important advances thanks to the continuous communication and support from our postdoc community. While we have seen some movement from the University on Union Rights and Access regarding the Union’s access to post on campus notice boards, we unfortunately saw no movement on our paired article on Union Security. Importantly, the University continues to refuse to direct postdocs’ questions about the Union directly to the Union, even as misinformation from University representatives about our ongoing negotiations continues to be an issue.
The most important factor in our success bargaining a strong contract is the participation of the entire union membership — observe a session, join our upcoming Town Hall, and help us keep the pressure on. Our next in-person session is scheduled for Friday, March 20th, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM ET. Click here to RSVP if you’d like to attend this or a future session and see the process firsthand!
You can access the full text of these proposals using our online bargaining tracker.
Have questions or feedback? Don’t hesitate to reply to this email — your input strengthens our collective power.
In solidarity,
Jorge Almagro Santiago
On behalf of the UPROR-UAW Bargaining Committee
______________________________
(Tentative) Tentative Agreement:
International Researcher Rights
UPROR-UAW Proposals:
Appointments and Appointment Security
International Researcher Rights
University Proposals: