We had a great time at our rally last week with colleagues from across campus, as well unionized postdocs from Columbia University, our graduate worker colleagues, and other campus workers.
It was great to see so many of us postdocs come out last week for our rally to support our coworkers and our unionization campaign!
Hearing stories from our coworkers about our common struggles was an important reminder of why we are forming our union for postdocs and research scholars at Princeton University. We are all the more determined to continue the conversations with our colleagues across Princeton about how we can all participate. If you know someone who hasn’t had a chance to sign a card yet, feel free to talk with them about it and ask them to sign up in support.
A week after our rally, the Office of the Dean of Faculty (Dean Jarrett) sent a message about our union. Unsurprisingly, the email seemed intended to discourage us from unionizing. Because many of the standard points mentioned in the email and in the linked FAQ were misleading with respect to postdoc unionization, we have prepared a side-by-side response to Dean Jarrett’s FAQ here. We encourage all postdocs to stay informed, keep in touch with your coworkers, and participate actively in your departments.
As Princeton University postdocs and scholars, we are the union. With a union we can empower ourselves to bargain as equals over our working conditions based on a democratic, participatory process of deciding our priorities. If you would like to get more involved in talking with coworkers and building our union, please contact us and we will reach out.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts.
Adel, Paola, and Sam
On behalf of the PUPS-UAW Organizing Committee