Yesterday, our elected Bargaining Committee met with the JHU admin for the eighth time, and we had a very productive session. We were joined by four observers, who saw the JHU admin pass us six counterproposals, and we passed them three counters. We encourage any interested postdocs to RSVP to be an observer at future bargaining sessions. In this session, the JHU admin passed us six counterproposals, and we passed them three counters. You can read these articles in our Bargaining Tracker. Although no Tentative Agreements (TAs) were reached, we are getting close to agreement on a few articles and had very productive conversations, which helped both sides to better understand the other’s position and rationale.
We began the session by giving the JHU admin the floor, and they passed six counterproposals to us: Job Posting; Employee Resources; No Strike, No Lockout; Workload; Appointment and Reappointment; and Management Rights. They made reasonable minor changes to Job Posting, and they explained their rationale for changes in their other counters as well. There was enough disagreement between us and JHU admin on Employee Resources that the admin handed us an edited version of their previous counter, but they explained that if a postdoc doesn’t have the resources to work, that’s ultimately management’s problem.
JHU admin made some compromises in No Strike, No Lockout, but they also maintained much of their previous language. In Workload, the JHU admin struck most of our language, citing primarily that postdocs are exempt (paid a salary rather than hourly). Not only does this not preclude what we proposed, but the admin’s counter is not consistent with the standard set by other unionized postdocs and exempt status workers.
In Appointment and Reappointment, the JHU admin maintained their position that the minimum term length be one year or less and that reappointment is not guaranteed nor subject to the just-cause standard. We will continue to negotiate and to demonstrate that a strong majority of us stand firmly behind winning improved job security and renewal opportunities for ourselves at Hopkins. The JHU admin rejected our counter to their Management Rights, and they also entirely rejected our proposed article Public Safety, citing that they believe these policies do not belong in our contract. Therefore, there is still some distance between what we have proposed versus the JHU admin’s counters, but hearing their rationales will inform us as we strive to reach fair compromises.
We then asked the JHU admin a series of questions about Grievance and Arbitration, resulting in an in-depth discussion on the practicality of the admin’s proposal for harassment and discrimination cases to be handled exclusively by the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE). To better understand the level of efficacy that OIE provides in handling these matters, we ask that any postdocs with experience(s) with OIE – good or bad – please reach out to us at info@hopkinspro-uaw.org if you want to be connected with a member of our Bargaining Committee, or fill out this form to confidentially share your story with us. After this discussion, we also asked the JHU admin clarifying questions on their current Discipline and Discharge counter, which resolved some misunderstandings and will inform our response.
Finally, we passed three counterproposals to the JHU admin: Bargaining Unit Information, Union Rights, and New Employee Orientation. While explaining our rationale for changes made to Bargaining Unit Information and Union Rights, we had a very productive discussion that left both sides feeling a better sense of understanding. We also described the need for better (or any) orientations for postdocs, which motivated our New Employee Orientation proposal instead of including this in Union Rights. JHU admin described a very successful system for offering monthly Zoom orientations that aligned well with our vision. We are now waiting for counterproposals from the JHU admin on these articles.
Our next session will be Tuesday, June 23rd, 11am-2pm on the East Baltimore campus, and we have five additional dates throughout the summer. We encourage anyone interested to RSVP to be an observer for any (or all!) of our sessions throughout the summer, as we’ve seen the positive impact that having more observers in the room has had firsthand!
In solidarity,
Amanda Shaver, Biology
Ben Seicol, Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery
Cat LaCourse, Pediatrics
Jaime Eugenin von Bernhardi, Neuroscience
Mitch Cram, University Writing Program
Saakshi Dulani, Physics & Astronomy, Philosophy
Tianyu Cao, Pathology
PRO-UAW Bargaining Committee