This week our bargaining team returned to the table for our 8th session with NIH management. We achieved several important wins, but we need to keep fighting to secure all the rights that we deserve. To join Fellows’ efforts to win a strong contract, send an email to info@nihfellowsunited.org.
Victory on Health and Safety Protections
After a long struggle, Fellows reached a tentative agreement on Health and Safety that includes strong protections to ensure a safe workplace. This includes the right to work in a safe environment, timely resolution to health and safety issues, and requirement that NIH complies with all recommendations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
We also reached tentative agreements on Workspace and Materials that will guarantee Fellows have all the equipment and facilities needed to do our jobs and on rights to credit for Intellectual Property and Inventions. We have now reached agreement on 23 articles, and after we reach tentative on all topics, all Fellows will vote on ratifying the contract.
NIH’s Rejection of Basic Workplace Rights
NIH management made a series of proposals that seek to deny Fellows basic rights, including proposing that all Postdocs, Postbacs and Predocs could be fired at any time and for no reason. NIH also proposed a toothless process for handling reports of harassment and bullying with no timelines for resolution or no appeal option to a third party. Rather than allowing NIH to police itself, Fellows are demanding the same union protections researchers have won across the country — that violations of the NIH nondiscrimination policy be grievable under our contract so that they can be appealed to a neutral arbitrator and have clear timelines.
Fellows made proposals on these topics:
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Protections against abusive conduct and bullying beyond the scope of CIVIL program protections, including the option to appeal to a neutral third-party arbitrator and clear timelines for resolution.
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Appointment lengths: Minimum of three-year initial appointments for Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows (and therefore three-year initial visas for International Fellows).
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J-1 waiver process: More reasonable criteria for issuing favorable sponsor views for J-1 212e homestay waivers, to make the process more realistic for Fellows.
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Accessibility: Enforceable accommodations with an individualized and flexible process to guarantee an accessible workplace
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Job Security: No unjust termination without due process
You can track bargaining progress and read copies of all tentative agreements on our bargaining portal.
We—the Fellows who keep NIH research running—will need to continue to mount pressure. Hundreds of us are already discussing next steps to win a fair contract (including our upcoming compensation and benefits proposals). Get involved with organizing by joining our detailed bargaining update tomorrow (Friday, September 13) at 1pm in Building 30, room 117. If you have questions, simply respond to this email or send a message to info@nihfellowsunited.org.
In Solidarity,
Haley Chatelaine, IRTA Postdoc, NCATS, Rockville
Sharmina Deloer, Visiting Fellow, NIAID, Bethesda
Ian Fucci, CRTA Postdoc, NCI, Frederick
Tara Fischer, Research Fellow, NINDS, Bethesda
Zohirul Islam, Visiting Fellow, NIAID, Bethesda
Rosa Lafer-Sousa, IRTA Postdoc, NIMH, Bethesda
Alexander Jordan Lara, Postbac, NIDCR, Bethesda
Marjorie Levinstein, IRTA Postdoc, NIDA, Baltimore
Amilcar Rodriguez, Predoc, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park North Carolina
Emilya Ventriglia, Predoc, NIMH, Bethesda
Corey Young, CRTA Postdoc, NCI, Rockville