UE in the News

Hundreds of postdoctoral scholars and research associates at Northwestern University voted to unionize this week, nearly two months after petitioning school officials.

“It’s beyond exciting to be part of something like this,” said Julia Fadjukov, 36, a postdoctoral fellow researching ophthalmology.

Members of the Northwestern Postdoctoral Union, or NUPU-UE, said they are seeking higher wages, workplace protections and job security. The vote paves the way for the collective bargaining process with the university.

“This job is our dream job. We love to do research and science for a living, but with everything going on in the U.S. at the moment, it has definitely felt like there’s this strong sense of fear,” said Fadjukov, who is from Finland. “I think many of us feel that with (the union), we can have a safe space to do our work.”

Dozens of organized Northwestern University postdoctoral researchers marched through campus Tuesday, delivering a petition to formally ask school officials to recognize their new labor union.

Northwestern University Postdoc Union would represent about 1,300 scientists and academic research staff, who say they’re fighting for higher wages, better healthcare and workplace protections. Many expressed concerns that their research funding and employment could be abruptly pulled amid an environment of political uncertainty on campus.

Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE) Local 197, a PhD workers' union at Johns Hopkins University, joined the rallies on May Day to demand that the university's administration protect international students, workers and research funding.

“The upshot is that we want them to be proactive about protecting our workers’ rights, to protect them from ICE and to protect their research funding,” said Stephen Schmidt, a graduate worker and member of TRU-UE Local 197.

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 150, the North Carolina public service workers union, is urging the state not to increase premiums or make other changes to the plan, which covers nearly 750,000 current and former state employees.

Charles Owens, a health care technician and vice president of Local 150 at Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, said his coworkers are already feeling the effects of changes to their plans.

"They changed the plan up and so forth but didn't bother to get input from the people that it affects, and that was just outrageous," Owens stated.

Union workers rallied in Verona outside of Daikin to protest for fair pay and respect Monday. Sylvia Eaves, president of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine workers of America (UE) Local 123 [...] said she hopes the rally will show Daikin that the UE is a united front and will not stand for being treated unfairly.