Weill Cornell's Upper East Side Postdocs File For Union Election

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Academic workers at Weill Cornell Medical College have filed for a union election, according to records.

The proposed union, called Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs United-UAW, would cover nearly 500 scientists and academic researchers at the Upper East Side institution.

Workers say they filed for a union election on Tuesday so they could better address workplace issues, like poor pay, immigration issues and a lack of work life balance that have talent fleeing Weill Cornell for other research opportunities or industry work.

"With considerable increases in salary for postdocs at neighboring institutions beginning to take effect, WCM salaries and benefits are now lagging behind and are no longer competitive," said Valerie Vinette, a postdoctoral associate of microbiology & Immunology, according to the union's website.

A postdoctoral association had already tried to rectify many of those issues with the administration, said Vinette, who was a co-president of the group.

"I believe that we have reached a plateau in what can be done without the ability to bargain collectively with WCM," Vinette wrote on the union website.

Since forming, the union has submitted letters and held a meeting with Weill Cornell management.

The union did not reply to a request for comment, and the substance of those meetings has yet to be shared.

Earlier in September, the union said that over 80 percent of postdoctoral workers at Weill Cornell supported their efforts.

A Weill Cornell Medicine spokesperson told Patch that they were committed to making the institution a "place where everyone can do their best work in a supportive community."

"We will continue to address the concerns of our postdoctoral community, and we respect the right of postdocs to unionize if they choose to do so," the spokesperson said.

The UAW has successfully helped organize academic workers at numerous institutions including some in the Big Apple, like at Columbia University and more recently at Mt. Sinai.

Workers at Columbia ratified their first contract in 2020, but now workers there and at Mt. Sinai, currently fighting for their first contract, have both overwhelmingly authorized a strike as contract negotiations proceed.