On July 16 and 17, postdoctoral researchers and research associates at Penn will vote on forming a union after years of organizing, a supermajority of authorization card signatures, and a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board affirming our legal right to unionize.
As academic workers, we perform groundbreaking research in labs, institutes, and centers across campus. International scholars, who make up approximately 60% of the postdoc and research associate community at Penn, face unique and difficult challenges, including navigating visa requirements and living far from our home countries. We believe the systemic challenges we face are best addressed through collective bargaining. Without it, the University’s administration would unilaterally decide every aspect of our employment, from appointment and visa lengths to our benefits and compensation.
Postdocs and research associates are voting to form a union with the United Auto Workers after seeing how thousands of international postdocs at other institutions have made significant gains by doing the same. We want the opportunity to negotiate for similar improvements directly with Penn.
The stressful visa renewal process and one-year job appointments, for example, impose steep costs on international scholars. Because our legal status is often tied to our jobs, Penn’s short one-year appointments place intense pressure on international scholars and leave us with few options when facing unfair expectations at work. That is why unionized postdocs across the University of California system successfully negotiated for two-year initial appointments. This means that international postdocs in the UC system spend less time worrying about appointment and visa renewals and more time on their research.
To help mitigate the costs associated with visa renewals, unionized postdocs have won visa fee reimbursements of up to $1,000 per year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and up to $1,250 per year at Mount Sinai and Columbia University. Postdoctoral researchers at Mt. Sinai and Columbia also secured protections from job loss due to visa interruptions, allowing them to hold their positions for a minimum of 60 days despite the uncertainty of recent federal policies. With a union, International Postdocs and Research Associates United at Penn (RAPUP) will have the power to collectively bargain for similar protections.
Penn’s recent compliance with some of the current federal administration’s policies has heightened our vulnerability. The University’s decision to remove public references to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from its websites and its lack of support for transgender students ultimately demonstrate its willingness to appease a federal administration that is also openly hostile to international workers. These actions suggest that Penn may continue to yield to political pressure and fail to protect vulnerable segments of Penn’s research and teaching community, like postdocs and research associates. Without the power and security of collective bargaining, we remain at the mercy of policies unilaterally decided by Penn.
In recent weeks, Penn has sent international postdocs and research associates text messages and emails assuring us of the administration’s unwavering support for international scholars. However, the administration’s unsuccessful attempt to deny us of our right to unionize by arguing to the NLRB that we are “temporary workers” without unionization rights suggests that Penn is determined to keep making decisions on our behalf rather than negotiate with international postdocs over our working conditions.
Thankfully, the NLRB rejected Penn’s arguments against our ability to unionize and has ordered a union election. Next week, postdocs and research associates will have the opportunity to vote “yes” for our union. This is a historic chance for all postdocs and research associates to gain the security of a contract and ensure that Penn can no longer have unilateral control over our working conditions.
Organizing and building collective power together as international scholars is the best way for us to achieve a fairer workplace and less precarious lives. Through a union, we can identify solutions and negotiate for changes directly with University leadership. Postdocs and research associates have already gained ground by organizing together. Now, we must take the next step by voting “yes” on July 16 and 17 to form our union. We urge our peers, both domestic and international, to join us. Only together can we win the dignity, stability, and respect we all deserve.
ALBANE THERY is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mathematics. Her email is alb.thery@gmail.com.
GERONIMO VELAZQUEZ is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neuroscience. His email is velazquezhlg@gmail.com.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
