Penn’s research assistants and postdoctoral students voted to unionize by an overwhelming majority on Thursday.
The vote — passed by a margin of 703-38 — makes the union the sixth to join Penn's campus in the last five years. Represented by Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn and supported by the United Auto Workers, eligible postdocs and research associates cast their ballots in Houston Hall from July 16 to 17.
“We are thrilled with tonight’s results, and ready to work with the university towards a more democratic workplace,” postdoctoral fellow Emily Perkins wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We love our jobs, but the increasing threats to international scholars coupled with inadequate compensation made a union the obvious choice. We’re ready to speak in one voice for fair pay, better job security, and a more equitable university.”
A University spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the National Labor Relations Board will now certify the election outcome. When the certification is complete, UAW will make a request to begin the collective bargaining process.
The election victory marks the conclusion of an extensive campaigning process — including a rally outside a Board of Trustees meeting in June and statements from the American Association of University Professors, Pennsylvania State Senators, and city councilmembers.
Postdoctoral researcher Ryan Fair, who serves on RAPUP’s organizing committee, described feeling “unbridled excitement” over the union's overwhelming support in an interview with the DP.
“We've been putting in the work for years now, trying to organize and build relationships with postdocs and research associates all across campus,” Fair said. “The past few days is really just the culmination of that work paying off.”
"We are proud to join our unionized colleagues from across the university to create a more equitable and just Penn," RAPUP wrote in statement announcing the results.
RAPUP now joins other unions on Penn's campus, including Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, United RAs, Penn Museum Workers United, Penn Libraries United, and unionized resident physicians and fellows at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
As postdoctoral students and research assistants celebrate the unionization, many of them described the potential benefits they hope to secure during the bargaining process.
"We are calling for improvements to our compensation, benefits, and job stability in the collective defense of our rights," the statement continued.
Postdoctoral researcher Santanu Ghosh said in an interview with the DP that he hopes the unionization effort will support raise in salary to “the average income that you need to survive in a place like Philadelphia” and the securement of multiple year contracts for international researchers.
“In the biological sciences, there are around 60-70% international postdocs and research assistants [on J-1 visas], and Penn refuses to give us multiple year contracts,” Ghosh said. “We have to go back to our home country every year to get these renewed, unless we go through an arduous bureaucratic process. [The lack of] a multi-year contract makes me think the University can do something to protect international student visa rights.”
Fair emphasized his hope that unionization will yield greater childcare benefits.
“I, and many other postdocs and research associates, are at a point in our lives where [we are considering] having children, buying houses, and putting money away for retirement,” Fair said. “These are things that we're not well equipped to do, being postdocs at Penn.”
Postdoctoral fellow Lizbeth Gomez said she was excited to “join tens of thousands of postdocs” with the “power to be able to bargain for stronger contracts and better work opportunities and conditions.”
"It's been a great process," postdoctoral researcher Geordan Stukey agreed. "We've had a lot of fun with it, and we're really excited that we have finally this historic opportunity to actually solidify all of our gains, all of our progress, into a fully fledged union."
In recent months, RAPUP organizers said that the University engaged in a "anti-union campaign," including the "repression" of gatherings and messages sent via weekly text blasts and emails.
The University's goal — according to RAPUP's statement following its victory — was to make "workers fearful of expressing their voice" by spreading "misinformation and anti-union propaganda while putting forth dubious challenges to 54 workers' ballots."
Fair called the University's actions “extremely disappointing," adding that Penn "[refused] to let us even have a democratic say and whether or not we're able to establish a union to represent us.”
"Nonetheless, the majority of Postdocs and Research Associates turned out to the polls, standing together to demand a workplace in which we all have a voice," RAPUP's statement continued.
"With the turnout that we've had, we're expecting that this will demonstrate to Penn that we're very serious about this effort, and therefore, that hopefully they will come to the negotiating table in good faith," Stukey said.
Assistant director of UAW Region 9 Ray Jensen Jr. similarly emphasized the "strong signal to Penn's administration" sent by RAPUP's victory in a press release.
"[I]t’s time to sit down at the bargaining table and negotiate the improvements and protections these workers deserve," Jensen wrote. "The UAW looks forward to supporting them as they bargain their first contract.”
The union's next steps, Fair highlighted, include electing a bargaining committee to negotiate a contract with Penn that is approved by postdocs and research associates.
“After the election, we would start to poll the postdoc community to gather what changes they would want to see,” postdoctoral researcher Louis Prahl said. “I am just one voice among over 1000 postdocs here, and we want to be able to represent that diverse community.”
“Nothing goes into effect until we have democratic approval at every step of the process,” Fair said.
Multiple research associates and postdocs also noted a responsibility they feel toward future researchers at the University.
“If we manage to get [the changes], it will probably not be in my lifetime at Penn,” Ghosh said. “I know that it’s going to take a while, and I know that I might not be here to see it, but the reason I’m supporting the union is so future generations who come to work at Penn don’t have to face the same things that I am facing. That’s the meaning of progress.”
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