We kicked off the summer with a Town Hall last week with a lot of great discussion and input on how to transition into bargaining for a strong first contract. (See more notes below.) Based on the clear majority opinion in the Town Hall, we will move forward with electing a bargaining team in early-to-mid summer—so look out for nominations in the next month or so!
In the meantime, we are forming working groups on known key issues (think housing, parent support, etc.). These working groups are open to all postdocs and scholars, regardless of prior union activity, and are a great way to work on the issues you care about.
Please sign up here to join a working group. Your participation is essential to taking this next step – no experience necessary!
The first group to get started is the Survey Working Group, meeting Tuesday 5/28 at 12PM in Robertson 005. This group will develop a survey for us to use as a tool for identifying bargaining priorities and demonstrating majority participation and power to Princeton.
Throughout the summer, we’ll do our best to incorporate remote meetings, time zone considerations, and other factors to accommodate travel so we can start bargaining with Princeton promptly and with broad support. We hope you’ll participate in this exciting phase to determine specifically what we want to improve for ourselves at Princeton!
Best,
Jessica Ng
High Meadows Environmental Institute
PUPS-UAW Organizing Committee
Town Hall Notes
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The next phase of our union involves formalizing bargaining demands and electing postdocs to represent us at the bargaining table with Princeton.
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Working groups on key issues will assist with research, support the bargaining committee in drafting bargaining proposals, and help drive issue-based organizing to increase our leverage at the bargaining table.
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The bargaining committee will be a handful of postdocs who accept nomination for the position and that we elect. We discussed the size and composition of the bargaining committee, including whether seats should be designated for certain areas or groups. Regardless, every elected member is responsible for representing all postdocs and should continue to consult with working groups and the organizing committee on relevant issues throughout the bargaining process.
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We discussed the pros and cons of having elections for this bargaining committee soon in early summer vs in late summer/early fall. Most attendees preferred the earlier election timeline to continue moving quickly after our election. We plan to incorporate feedback and announce the official bargaining committee election process within the next month.
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As our unionized postdoc colleagues at Mount Sinai and Columbia reminded us, what happens at the bargaining table is not determined by brilliant arguments made by our elected bargaining committee, but by the strength of our organizing. Communication and accountability between the bargaining committee and the rest of the unit are essential.
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The Organizing Committee meets Tuesdays at 4pm in PNI A59 and is always open for postdocs to join.