U Mass Postdocs Vote to Unionize

[Bill McBlueState]

From Science Careers:

A press release from Robert Madore, the Director of Region 9A of the United Auto Workers says that postdocs at 3 University of Massachusetts campuses have voted to unionize.

According to the press release, a majority of the 300 postdocs at the Dartmouth, Amherst, and Boston campuses of the University of Massachusetts "have signed cards authorizing UMass Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/United Auto Workers (UMass PRO/UAW) to represent them in collective bargaining, triggering a process that will require the university to negotiate over wages, health insurance, job security, and other workplace issues." The release says that a certification petition has been filed with the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations.

This is the same union that is in currently in negotiations with the University of California on behalf of some 5000 postdocs at that institution. We'll have more about those negotiations in this week's "Taken for Granted" column, which will be posted tomorrow afternoon on Science Careers.

UMass Postdoctoral Researchers Organize

[stray cat]

1. I wonder if this means they can no longer pay really good or well trained postdocs merit pay?

If so - the well trained postdocs will go somewhere else where they can get paid what they are worth and not just whatever anyone with a PhD after their name trained here or overseas will get. There is such a tremendous difference in how competent and well trained postdoctoral scientists are - some deserve and get higher salaries whereas others are not as competent as a good grad student and have to get supervised by a student.

Also, sense anyone paid by a grant is capped by the estimated wages when the grant was funded (they don't increase the grant to pay more for salaries) because unlike the US government laboratories have to plan and work in a budget - that means the less than good postdocs are really not going to be worth employing.

[Bill McBlueState]

2. I doubt it

I'm familiar with the contract for graduate student employees at UMass, who have been represented by the UAW for a long time, the same union that will represent the postdocs. The grad employee contract specifies a minimum wage, which is always met regardless of the details of the grant, and there's no specification of a maximum wage, leaving PIs free to pay exceptional researchers as much as they can.