Author: UConn Postdoc Union

NOTICE OF NOMINATION AND ELECTION FOR THE UNION BARGAINING COMMITTEE

(up to seven [7] positions)

August  26, 2018

Nominations are hereby declared open for the University of Connecticut Postdoctoral Researchers Union Bargaining Committee (up to seven [7] positions): All eligible Union supporters [any University of Connecticut Postdoctoral Research Associates who are currently employed by the university] who have signed a union authorization card are automatically nominated for the Bargaining Committee.

The bargaining committee will have up to seven members.

Any eligible Union supporter who wishes to accept the nomination for one of the seven (7) Bargaining Committee positions listed above may accept nomination by submitting in writing a statement of acceptance to the Recording Secretary of the Elections Committee no later than 5pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 by e-mail to uconnpostdocsunion@gmail.com.

Go to our website for details about the responsibilities of bargaining committee members.

Candidate statements

Each candidate may write and submit a candidate statement of no more than 500 words. These statements will be posted on the postdoc union website if there are contested elections.

It is the responsibility of the candidate to submit the candidate statement. All candidate statements must be received by the time nominations close at 5pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, to the Recording Secretary of the Elections Committee at uconnpostdocsunion@gmail.com.

Election Dates, Times and Locations

In the event that the number of eligible candidates who accept nomination for the specified position do not exceed the number of open positions (up to seven [7] positions), such candidates will be deemed elected by acclamation and no election will be held.

If more than seven people accept nomination, an election will be conducted with the top seven (7) vote getters being elected.

Elections would take place on Monday, September 17 at the following time and location.

Student Union Building, outside of the graduate student lounge, from 9am-5pm.

A run-off election, in an event of a tie for the seventh position, will be held on Monday, September 24, from 9am to 5pm. The location will be announced if necessary.

 

We will be holding elections for our bargaining committee soon and encourage everyone to run. Please click here and let us know if you’re interested.

We formed a union to improve the Postdoc experience at UConn and to increase the political voice of researchers locally and nationally. We follow in the footsteps of tens of thousands of other Postdocs, graduate employees, and other higher education employees who have already unionized.  

The UConn graduate assistant employees unionized in 2014 and have bargained for increased wages, more fee waivers, restoration of state employee health benefits, parking pass reductions, childcare subsidies, paid family leave, appointment security, increased international student rights, protections against sexual harassment, and more. The UC Postdocs unionized in 2008 and have subsequently bargained for increased wages, guaranteed annual wage increases, improved benefits, paid parental and maternity leave, longer job appointments, protections from sexual harassment, and more.

Now that we have won recognition of our union, it is now our turn to bargain for our first contract.

What needs to happen ASAP. Before we can start bargaining, we need to:

• Gather more bargaining surveys from postdocs across our campuses, so that we can have as much information as possible on what issues are important to all of us to help guide contract negotiations with UConn. The more postdocs who fill out these surveys, the more power we will have to make improvements that reflect the interests of all of us at UConn.
• Elect a Bargaining Committee: the Bargaining Committee, working with experienced union negotiators, will draft initial proposals and negotiate over these proposals with the UConn Administration. The expected commitment is meeting on a regular basis to prepare our proposals, talking to Postdocs about our bargaining demands, and time at the bargaining table that is based on availability of the union and administration’s bargaining committees.  
• Ratify initial bargaining goals: goals will be written by the bargaining committee based on feedback from the bargaining surveys.

We encourage anyone who’s interested in running for the bargaining committee or joining the organizing committee to please contact us. Click here to let us know if you’re interested. We hope to hold elections soon.

We’re excited to let you know that the Connecticut State Labor Board has certified that a majority of postdocs signed up for our union! This comes after months of productive conversation with the university’s administration that resulted in a neutrality agreement which commits UConn to recognize and start bargaining with our union based upon this certification of majority support by the labor board.This means that we officially have a union, and that future changes to our employment cannot be made without our input.

We look forward to starting bargaining. If you have not done so yet, please fill out a bargaining survey here so our bargaining committee, whom we elect soon, can know what our priorities and goals should be.

Please also join us for a lunch meeting on Friday, August 3, 1-2pm at Homer Babbidge Library in the Classroom of 1947 Room, to discuss our next steps. Lunch will be provided, RSVP here.

 

As we move closer to recognition for our union, we are now conducting bargaining surveys so that we can have as much information as possible on what issues are important to all of us to help guide contract negotiations with UConn. The more postdocs who fill out these surveys, the more power we will have to make improvements that reflect the interests of all of us at UConn. Please take five minutes to fill out the survey here.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N2W86Z2

POSTDOC LUNCH SOCIAL ON FRIDAY 4/13 @ NOON

Please join us on Friday (April 13) at 12-1PM, in the Pharmacy-Biology Building (PBB) Room 527 for a celebratory lunch to meet other postdocs and chat about our union. Food will be provided.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP here.

MAJORITY OF POSTDOCS CHOOSE UNIONIZATION

We have great news! The supermajority of postdocs at UConn have now signed cards to authorize the formation of our Postdoc Union. We thank the many of you who signed in support. We expect to submit our cards to the state labor board soon and will keep you updated in the coming month.

We are joining together to improve the postdoc experience at UConn and increase our political voice both on campus and nationally. UConn postdocs make essential contributions to the world-class research conducted at UConn, but we still struggle from the lack of secure, enforceable rights in the workplace. As the only non-union group of employees on campus, we face increasing uncertainty about our future benefits and working conditions, given the precarious nature of funding for UConn. International postdocs also face unstable visa regulations and work authorization in the current political climate. Having a union gives us a path towards alleviating these uncertainties and allows us all a voice to advocate for our employment conditions here at UConn.

You can find more information about how unionization helps our cause on our website.

GET INVOLVED

If any new postdocs have joined your lab or department in recent months please let us know by emailing us here.  We’d like to hear input from them and bring them up-to-date on our unionization efforts.

If you would like to get involved or help out, we welcome new members to our Postdoc Union Organizing Committee. Fill out a get involved form here.

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A huge win for our graduate student colleagues at UConn: Check out their Facebook post and congratulate them on their new contract tentative agreement!

We look forward to continuing to build our Union together.

From your colleagues on the UConn Postdoc Union Organization Committee.