Your bargaining team (Bteam) met with management on Tuesday, February 14th to discuss the following proposals:
PWU proposals:
Compensation (counter proposal) — Our team made no changes from our first proposal on postdoc compensation. Key points were that all postdocs should have a W2, the funding source does not determine a postdoc’s employment status, and pay gap coverage until grants are adjusted, and a suggestion that departments pay postdocs bonuses for acquiring independent funding. Our team proposed the NIH postdoc working group recommendation of $80,000 starting salary (still below a 70k national minimum adjusted for Portland cost of living).
Benefits (counter proposal) — Our team proposed insurance premiums in line with other union contracts at OHSU, including 100% of premium costs for postdocs and 88% for dependents to be paid by OHSU with the exception of the EPO plan premiums fully covered for postdoc and dependents. Also addressed were retirement contributions, childcare, relocation costs, equipment expenses, and transportation benefits.
Leave (counter proposal) — Our team proposed 208 hours of front loaded PTO, 20 hours bereavement leave, and supplements to Paid Leave Oregon or 12 weeks parental leave.
International Affairs (counter proposal) — Our team proposed processes of visa choice, the provision of a tax compliance system, reimbursement for immigration expenses, protected leave for visa renewals and travel reimbursement for visa renewal. Domestic and International postdocs take our International Affairs Survey
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (reproposal) – OHSU fully rejected our proposal as a permissive subject without a justification. Our team reproposed this article as a mechanism to address the “leaky pipeline” in science for people from underrepresented groups.
OHSU Proposals:
None
Negotiations with OHSU have reached a disappointing turn from collaborative problem solving, to flat out contempt by OHSU’s team– contempt for the highest degree holders at OHSU and the ones who bring in $600 million in research funding. They’ve heard our proposals at the table and fully reject the idea of contributing one penny toward postdocs. All our counter proposals were prepared in response to OHSU’s status quo proposals (zero improvements) and OHSU’s poor attempt to chill postdocs into submission. OHSU continues to use arguments about grants that have been proven to be unsuccessful by other institutions across the country. From the entire west coast to the recent Mount Sinai win in New York, postdocs are taking a stance. We unionized with a 2/3rds super-majority within 3 weeks and we are not going down without a fight. WILL YOU JOIN US!
In solidarity,
Your PWU Bargaining Team
