As you may have seen, President Trump’s Executive Branch placed the National Institutes of Health under an unprecedented set of restrictions, including a communications blackout, a travel ban for nearly all employees, and a complete hiring freeze. This means that many of the NIH grants that fund academic workers’ research and have already passed peer review are now in limbo. Any slowdown in grant funding will have dramatic consequences for scientific research across the country.
For postdocs and scholars, these actions highlight how important it is for us to join a growing movement of academic workers and researchers nationwide to protect our rights and working conditions. Academic workers must take immediate action to tell our congressional representatives that restrictions on the NIH must be lifted, so that this agency can continue its work and ensure that American scientific research continues without interruption.
UAW postdocs and researchers across the country are organizing to call our congressional representatives on Thursday, 1/30, at 3pm on Zoom to demand these restrictions be lifted immediately. Please click on the link below to join.
Click here to join a phone bank and share your story!
As part of the UAW, which already represents over 100,000 graduate student workers, postdocs, and academic employees across the US, we are joining thousands of other researchers organizing together to advocate for our rights. In addition to pushing for increased science funding, UAW has a clear history of advocating for international researchers not just at universities, but at the national level, including filing an amicus brief challenging the Muslim travel ban, fighting against visa restrictions for Chinese internationals, and working to expand and protect J- and H-1B visas.
Now, more than ever, our power lies in acting together collectively to advocate for ourselves, each other, and the future of academic research. Winning a strong contract for postdocs and scholars at Princeton will continue to help empower academic workers everywhere. You can participate by being an observer at a future PUPS bargaining session – sign up here!
Best,
Rachel L Bedder
Postdoctoral Research Associate
PUPS-UAW Organizing Committee
Princeton Neuroscience Institute & Department of Psychology
Adel Ardalan
Associate Research Scholar
PUPS-UAW Organizing Committee
Princeton Neuroscience Institute