After dozens of meetings and hundreds of conversations about why postdocs want a union, supportive postdoctoral researchers from all across Columbia decide to start a union card signing campaign and name the union Columbia Postdoctoral Workers-UAW CPW-UAW. By this point, postdocs have identified a wide array of improvements they would like to pursue through having a union, such as: stronger systems of recourse for addressing sexual harassment and discrimination; expanded access to paid parental leave; fair grievance procedures, salary increases that keep up with the cost of living in New York City and competitor research institutions; and improved health benefits. Postdoctoral researchers engage in hundreds more conversations about how forming a union can enable a stronger, more democratic process to pursue improvements in all these areas.
