On July 7th, we held our 7th bargaining session with the Mount Sinai administration. We concentrated on asking Sinai's team about their positions on various areas, including their proposals to roll back or eliminate benefits entirely, in order to better understand how we can make progress in the negotiations. Unfortunately, Sinai's responses were largely unsatisfactory and did not reflect a sense of urgency to reach a fair agreement, even though our contract expired on June 30th.
When we explained that putting resources into areas like childcare would make the institution more equitable and competitive, for example, Sinai's response was that it wouldn't be "financially prudent". The administration's team questioned whether childcare support was a matter of equity, ignoring well documented evidence of parents being forced to choose between their family and their careers.
When asked about their insistence on eliminating the emergency support fund, the administration's team responded that the need for the fund had "subsided". We have drained the fund every year, clearly demonstrating that postdocs' need for financial support in case of emergencies is still very real, especially without adequate childcare and housing support.
We also pressed Sinai on their resistance to providing more financially in areas like compensation at a time when the institution's grant funding is up by 27%. Sinai did not deny that they could afford what we are asking for, but believe what they are proposing is already enough. The administration's team repeatedly declined to share financial information that would help us find common ground in the session.
We remain committed to reaching a fair successor agreement and to doing so as transparently as possible with all of you. It is more essential than ever that a majority of us stay informed and participate in building pressure on Sinai to reach a fair agreement. Take a moment to RSVP to join us at the bargaining table on Wednesday, July 29 at 9:30AM in Annenberg Room 18-88, and click here if you want to get more involved!
If you have questions or want to get involved, please click reach out here.
In solidarity,
Sara Alibrandi, Medicine - Nephrology
SPOC-UAW 4100 Bargaining Committee