Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn rallied outside of a University Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, demanding that the University allow them to vote on unionization.
The June 12 demonstration began at the corner of 34th and Walnut streets, where speakers advocated for the group’s right to “unionize for better healthcare, international protections, and higher pay.” Following the speeches, around 100 people — including RAPUP organizers, faculty, and Penn community members — marched to the Inn at Penn, where the Board of Trustees gathered for committee briefings ahead of the annual Spring Full Board Meeting.
“What Penn is doing is union-busting — they're actively disenfranchising the academic researchers who do most of the groundbreaking research here,” RAPUP spokesperson Bridget Begg wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Penn can drop their appeals at any time and let us vote! And they should also respect the results of any election we hold.”
A University spokesperson declined a request for comment.
The DP previously reported that over 1,000 authorization cards in support of unionizing were signed and submitted on April 24 by postdocs and research associates to the regional branch of the National Labor Relations Board in Philadelphia. During the rally, a third year postdoctoral researcher at the School of Veterinary Medicine Justin Roncaioli said that while the NLRB approved the petition, Penn was “stalling” the election.
“We deserve better job security, especially at a time when our positions are threatened by cuts to federal research funding,” Roncaioli said. “We deserve an enforceable worker contract with clear language on bridge funding in the case of funding loss or layoffs.”
Multiple speakers also alleged that Penn had “launched an anti-union campaign against [them],” including hiring an “anti-union” law firm. According to Begg, the University has discouraged unionization through email directing to a Facts 4 Postdocs site and “spamming” texts to union advocates with “misinformation.”
In response, Begg noted that RAPUP has launched their own website in response to Penn’s page.
As the group stood outside the Inn at Penn, they read aloud a letter directed at the Trustees who were gathered inside for one of four annual stated meetings.
In the letter, RAPUP urged Penn to “do the right thing” and agree to a “democratic election on unionization.” They asked the University to “publicly commit” to “refrain from any further legal efforts to undermine a democratic vote” and “immediately engage in good-faith collective bargaining” if the vote passed with majority support.
“Our work advances the core teaching, research and clinical practice missions of the university, all of which make Penn not just a hub of innovation and education but also a major economic engine of the city of Philadelphia,” RAPUP wrote.
A few hours after the rally concluded, Senior Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell acknowledged the demonstration in her presentation to the Board of Trustees Academic Policy Committee, saying that “unionization efforts for postdocs are currently underway.”
Bonnell added that negotiations would “take some time” to be resolved and were “likely to take a year.”
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