New York City – More than 500 Postdoctoral Researchers at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine who are members of the Sinai Postdoc Organizing Committee-UAW (SPOC-UAW) walked off the job and onto the picket line for an Unfair Labor Practice strike on Wednesday, December 6. After more than one full year at the bargaining table with Sinai administrators, no agreement has been reached. Hundreds gathered for a rally to kick off the strike at 10am ET at East 99th and Madison Ave.

“We love our research, but Sinai is leaving us no choice,” said Andrea Joseph, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. “Our priority has always been ensuring that science at Mount Sinai is sustainable and inclusive, and that means fair pay and housing and parental benefits that allow all of us to take care of our families and stay in the careers we love in New York City.”

“Today, Postdocs, members of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai community, and our broader community are standing together to hold Sinai’s administration accountable. Through our collective action, we hope to compel them to bargain in good faith, so we can finally address the urgent issues we face as researchers committed to our careers in science and research,” said Hunter Korsmo, who works in the Department of Medicine – Division of Nephrology.

The impacts of the strike will be felt across Mount Sinai and beyond. Hundreds of other Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai employees and community members have pledged to respect the picket lines.

In June of 2022, nearly 90% of workers voted to choose Sinai Postdoctoral Organizing Committee-United Auto Workers (SPOC-UAW) as their union and bargaining representative.

Postdocs perform a wide range of critical research, from developing new therapies to fight disease to advancing new technologies that will shape the future of research, and much more.

Make a Donation to the SPOC-UAW Solidarity Fund