On Wednesday, September 16th, we held our 36th bargaining session with the University.
This session came the day after over two-thirds of all Rockefeller postdocs voted to authorize a strike, with yes votes from 86% of those who voted, in a powerful demonstration of our collective strength, and it showed at the table.
During this session, we presented five articles: Holidays; Parking and Transportation; Tax Assistance; Vacations; and Wellness. The University presented five articles of their own: Childcare; Hardship Fund; Leaves of Absence; Research Integrity; and Retirement. We had meaningful conversations on all ten articles, a positive shift that reflects the University starting to take our unity seriously, and we hope this indicates a greater willingness to make substantive progress.
We returned counterproposals on Retirement and Hardship Fund with substantive changes, moving us closer to agreement on both. In turn, the University countered on all five of the articles we presented. After productive discussion, we reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on Wellness, and will hopefully reach TAs on Holidays, Vacations, and Tax Assistance at our next bargaining session.
Unfortunately, the University failed to counter on core articles like Compensation, Housing, International Researcher Rights, and Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation, which have been on their side for 8 to 19 weeks. We once again asked Rockefeller to return counters on these essential topics as soon as possible.
The participation of our entire postdoctoral community will determine the strength of our contract—show the University that we will not back down by observing a session and joining our actions. Our next in-person session is scheduled for Monday, September 28, 2026, from 1:00 PM to 6:00 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,
Deniz Abdusselamoglu
On behalf of the UPROR-UAW Bargaining Committee
Tentative Agreement:
UPROR-UAW Proposals:
Holidays (#2)
Vacations (#2)
Wellness (#2)
University Proposals: