Bargaining Session: May 20, 2019

On May 20, 2019, representatives of the University attended the seventh bargaining session with the union committee that represents postdocs and ARSs.

At the beginning of the session, an ARS who is not a member of the bargaining committee made a statement about having experienced bullying and harassment in the lab in which they worked and having their work used by their PI without proper attribution or consent.  The union bargaining committee then presented four new proposals on Non-Discrimination and Harassment, International Worker Rights and Protections, Intellectual Property and Scholarly Misconduct, and Health and Safety.

The union bargaining committee also presented its open letter calling for the negotiation of contract provisions to address sexual and other forms of discrimination and harassment.  The University bargaining committee expressed its ongoing commitment to addressing issues of discrimination and harassment as demonstrated by its existing policies and procedures and agreed to study the union proposal and share it with the appropriate members of senior leadership beyond the committee for consideration.

The University bargaining committee presented its comprehensive set of proposals offered to date and reviewed with the union bargaining committee the various revisions made in those proposals in response to the concerns raised in earlier negotiation sessions.  The University bargaining committee also invited the union bargaining committee to create a working group including experts to discuss health and safety issues.

Discussions continued about the proposals previously presented by both bargaining committees including the proposals addressing leaves.

The parties reached a tentative agreement on Severability.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 10, 2019.