Click here to join us Wednesday, 2/26 for our first CORE-UAW Town Hall!
We are excited to announce that a majority of postdocs and graduate workers at UMass Chan have signed authorization cards in support of forming our union, Coalition Of Research Employees-UAW!
Postdocs and graduate student workers continue to sign up in support, but this is an important milestone for our campaign because it means we can file for certification with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations (DLR) in the near future. When the DLR verifies these majorities, they will certify CORE-UAW as the union for both units, after which UMass Chan will have a legal obligation to bargain with us. We’ll elect bargaining committees made up of our peers and democratically determine our priorities for our first collective agreement.
To meet up and discuss both our progress and next steps, we’re holding an informational town hall this coming Wednesday, February 26 at 5:00 PM at the Hiatt Auditorium (S1-608). This will be an opportunity to meet other postdocs and graduate workers, hear from unionized researchers at other institutions, and discuss the next steps. Please click here to RSVP so we know how many people to expect!
We are excited to be joining tens of thousands of postdoctoral and graduate researchers and other higher education employees who have negotiated improvements to their workplaces as part of the United Auto Workers (UAW), including researchers at UMass Amherst, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Connecticut, Columbia University, Mount Sinai, Harvard University, University of California, and University of Washington.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts,
Ivano Mocavini
Postdoctoral Associate, Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology
Ned Martenis
Graduate Student Worker, Neurobiology
Members of the CORE-UAW Organizing Committee
P.S. – There has been much discussion in recent weeks about the current Presidential administration’s efforts to freeze and cut federal research funding. UAW academic workers have been at the forefront of fighting back against these attacks, most recently with a National Day of Action on 2/19. If you are looking for ways to get more involved, check out this upcoming national phonebank on 2/25 to call our elected representatives.