Your bargaining team (Bteam) met with management on Tuesday, February 27th to discuss the following a package of related proposals:
OHSU’s Counter Package Proposal:
Appointments — Guaranteeing a 1 year appointment without layoff and a minimum 1 year reappointment unless mutually agreed on by postdoc and advisor. Reappointments are subject to loss of funding layoffs.
Performance expectations and progress assessment — Job position descriptions are to follow a standardized template and provided to the Postdoc upon hire. Individual Development Plans (IDP) will be used to track progress on professional goals. Postdocs may submit goals and expectations to advisors for approval
Layoff — Involuntary separation or a reduction in duration of appointment for a Postdoc after the first year of the initial appointment as a result of appropriate funding becoming unavailable.
PWU Counter Package Proposal included above articles with the following changes:
Performance expectations and progress assessment — Clear guidelines for written communication on work expectations and procedure for Advisor and Postdoc to reach a mutual agreement.
Time and effort commitment — Emphasis on a 40 hour work week with flexibility to accommodate postdocs who wish to work more than 40 hours. Mechanisms for disputing deviations from a reasonable schedule.
Personnel files — Documentation of work related documentation. Postdocs right to rebuttal any files placed in the personnel file.
*Important*
OHSU indicated NO interest in moving from their status quo position on economic/international issues while requesting for mediation (details on mediation below). We asked pointed questions to determine how they are justifying their proposals and the prevailing response was “I am not sure, we’ll have to ask.” It is obvious that OHSU’s team is stonewalling our efforts without any thought or justification or even a written proposal – just flat out rejection. That means:
ZERO support for underrepresented minorities
ZERO resources and protected time off for visas and visa renewals
ZERO improvements to PTO (*postdocs have half the leave as all other employees)
ZERO change to employee status of granted postdocs
ZERO changes to benefits
ZERO increases in compensation
ZERO effort to provide pay equity
Our team is truly trying to make OHSU a better place for research, and help them with recruiting/retaining valuable postdocs like you! We are trying to negotiate in good faith, but how can we have any meaningful discussion when our employer chooses to treat us like dogs? Even a dog knows the difference between being tripped over and being kicked and we are not going to take this disrespect lying down. OHSU has already had a string of bad press that frames them as an institution that values greed, a billion dollar acquisition, and corruption while taking credit for the profits and prestige our research brings.
We also have hope that the postdoc community we built will prevail. We have seen time and again that postdocs and grads around the country win the most when they stand together and fight back. Examples from California, Washington, Illinois, and New York clearly show that there is a rising tide of researchers ready to fight. It takes work and courage, but we have that. Our union is made of the strongest willed people who take risks, make sacrifices, and push boundaries in the name of our science. But at what cost? Now we must take that perseverance and fight for ourselves and tell OHSU that our expertise has a cost and it is time OHSU pays their fair share.
In solidarity,
Your PWU Bargaining Team
