PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Dr. Sindhu Vangeti, Postdoctoral Fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
2:43:00
ยท
151 sec
Dr. Sindhu Vangeti, a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai and union organizer, spoke in support of physician colleagues at Doctors' Council and workers in the academic and healthcare sector. She shared her experience with unionization at Mount Sinai and the challenges faced by postdoctoral fellows, particularly international workers.
- Highlighted the vulnerability of international postdoctoral fellows in terms of employment, visa sponsorship, and housing
- Discussed the recent contract negotiations and strike at Mount Sinai, which resulted in improved conditions for postdoctoral fellows
- Emphasized the need for strong contracts and safe working conditions for physicians, even if it requires strike action
Sindhu Vangeti
2:43:00
Good afternoon, council members.
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My name is Sindhu Vangeti.
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I'm a postdoctoral fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a, organizer and a steward for my union, the United Auto Workers Local 4 100, which represents 2,000 postdoctoral workers at Mount Sinai as well as Columbia University.
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I have a PhD in immunology from the Karolinska Instituted in Sweden, and I was recruited to Mount Sinai in 2020 to study immune responses to respiratory viruses and vaccines.
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Today, I have the pleasure of speaking in support of my physician colleagues, at at doctor's council and fellow workers in the academic and healthcare sector.
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At Mount Sinai, my postdoc colleagues and I formed a union in June 2021.
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And after 18 months of bargaining and a historic 12 day unfair labor practice strike, we won our 1st contract in December 2023.
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Over 80% of postdoctoral fellows at Mount Sinai are international and come to the US to carry out cutting edge research often bringing in up to half a $1,000,000,000 in research funding.
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As international workers, we rely on our employer, Mount Sinai, for employment, visa sponsorship, career advancement through the research we publish.
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And for the 1st 3 years of our fellowship, Sinai is often our landlord too.
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This places us in an extremely vulnerable position for our careers as well as our livelihood.
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Following the COVID 19 pandemic, our salaries, which have not seen an increase in years, remain unchanged.
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We have a housing and affordability crisis in the city.
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Our members work hard and sacrifice a lot to develop the latest advancements in medicine and in basic science.
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During the pandemic, my colleagues and I worked around the clock to make groundbreaking discoveries.
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And in parallel, our physician colleagues fought incredibly hard to save lives at the risk of their own.
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Our contributions are always acknowledged, but we saw no measurable changes to our compensation or working conditions while our employers continued to make record profits.
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We won a strong contract, but we had to fight Sinai very hard at the bargaining table for every single thing that we won.
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With our strike, we won a record setting contract.
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And in the past few years, post doc unions, have raised standards and improved working conditions across New York City, even at institutions without unionized workers.
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Our physician colleagues and members of doctor's council deserve the same sense of security and a strong contract so that they can continue to protect health and, save lives.
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For New York City to thrive, we need policies that support its essential workers.
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We need our doctors to have safe working conditions even if they need to go on strike to win.
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Local 4 100 stands with our colleagues at Doctors' Council, and I thank you.