Columbia Postdoctoral Workers

Vote “Yes” for a stronger and more inclusive research community at Columbia

On October 2 and 3, we have a historic opportunity to establish a stronger voice to negotiate improvements in our working conditions and create a more inclusive research community at Columbia by voting “yes” for CPW-UAW as our union. Joining together with 75,000 other academic workers in the UAW has become more urgent than ever as the Trump administration wages unprecedented attacks on science, sexual harassment protections, and the freedom of international scholars.

We have a clear choice in this election. Voting “yes” means the Columbia administration would have a legal obligation to negotiate postdoctoral researcher conditions through collective bargaining with CPW-UAW and to secure any agreements on improvements or maintaining current benefits in a binding contract. Without collective bargaining, Columbia administrators far away from our labs decide unilaterally whether, when and how to address problems like the quality and affordability of health benefits for ourselves and our families, whether to offer salary increases that match cost of living or our peers in New York City, uneven enforcement of family leave, or ineffective recourse for sexual harassment, just to name a few examples.

In thousands of conversations, numerous town halls and other meetings, postdoctoral researchers have already identified a long list of issues to address in bargaining—consider the thoughts of our colleagues and these basic reasons to vote “union yes” on October 2 and 3.

Our research community does better when we join together

We have already benefited from the growing movement of academic workers organizing across the United States. For example, after years of unpredictable and insufficient pay increases, the one significant pay increase we received in recent years came not from Columbia’s leadership, but from concerted efforts by UC postdocs and others to create new US Department of Labor regulations mandating higher salaries for all US postdocs. Important progress, but we can still do better—Columbia’s current minimum postdoc salary of $50,123 still lags 17% behind the new $58,661 minimum at Mt. Sinai. With a union, we would have a better chance at negotiating fair compensation that reflects our value and keeps pace with the unusually high cost of living in NYC.

University of California postdocs have negotiated the highest pay of any public university postdocs

See the positive results of collective bargaining for other UAW academic workers

Columbia graduate workers win fully-paid dependent health insurance

The UAW provides a stronger political voice on issues that matter to us as scholars and scientists

With 75,000 academic workers across the US, including postdocs, RAs and TAs, and non-tenure-track faculty, the UAW nationally and locally has become a leading voice advocating for expanded opportunities for international students to work in the US after graduation and for robust federal investment in science research. The UAW also played a key role, alongside others like NIH director Frances Collins, supporting the new federal overtime rules that established significant improvements to postdoc salaries. Here on Columbia’s campus the GWC International Students Working Group has fought for years on Columbia’s campus to protect international student employees from wrongful termination, tax errors, unfair international student fees and the Trump administration’s travel ban. The UAW’s commitment to international students and scholars stems from the leadership of international students and scholars themselves. Postdoc and graduate employee unions affiliated with UAW are often lead by international students and scholars, who serve in top leadership positions in local unions nationwide.

Letter to the editor: UAW is a strong ally for international students and postdocs

Read about UC postdoc and UAW efforts to support federal science funding

As International Researchers at Columbia University we are voting Yes for our Union

Improved and secure conditions enable postdoctoral researchers to prioritize research

We all care deeply about our research, which is why we came to Columbia in the first place. However, too many postdocs report problems exercising policies that supposedly exist, such as maternity leave, childcare subsidies, protections against sexual harassment and workplace discrimination, timely reimbursement of work-related expenses, or managing our finances given the gaps in our health insurance coverage. This kind of unpredictability and the lack of clear, effective and efficient recourse get in the way of focusing on our research. The clarity, predictability and security of a contract will enable us to make sure that we can focus our energy on quality research.

UW graduate workers address problems effectively and efficiently through their Union

Unionized graduate assistant takes on sexual harassment and preserves her academic career

Improved postdoc conditions can enhance postdoctoral researcher career development

After seven years of unionization, a Rutgers dean refuted previous fears that unionization would lead to fewer postdoc positions or damage relationships between faculty and postdocs, saying in a recent Inside Higher Ed article that “this relationship has turned out to be a very good one for us.” In fact, as he reports, the University not only continues to hire at least as many postdocs as before, but the postdoctoral affairs office has more time to help postdocs with professional and career services because they spend less time on employment issues now clarified in the union contract. The number of postdocs at the University of California has also grown since they first unionized in 2008.

Read about the growth of postdoc unions in Inside Higher Ed

Read about all the improvements UC postdocs have negotiated to improve and stabilize their work

Collective bargaining can help create a more inclusive and accessible university

Inequalities–including those based on gender, race and immigration status–continue to create barriers for many of the most talented to enter the academic and scientific workforce. And existing systems of recourse for problems like sexual harassment too often fail and can take years. Though much work remains to be done, postdocs, graduate students and adjunct faculty in the UAW have helped make progress on many of these issues, both at the bargaining table and in policy advocacy through the union. At the University of Connecticut, for example, a graduate assistant worked with her union to successfully resolve a major sexual assault and harassment complaint in three months, whereas it has literally taken decades for complaints to be addressed at Columbia.

UConn Graduate Student Union Helps Handle Sexual Harassment

“The Silence Surrounding Sexual harassment in Labs at Columbia”

Why we are voting union “YES” for a more family-friendly research community

Why we are voting yes for a more family friendly research community

We are excited to vote yes for our union on October 2nd and 3rd!
Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW)