Research associate and postdoc union pushes Penn on compensation, health protections

After proposing initial contract terms earlier this month, Research Associates and Postdocs United at Penn has urged the University to respond to its demands regarding compensation, health care, childcare, and support for international researchers.

RAPUP introduced 31 proposals during bargaining sessions this semester, marking the completion of the union’s first phase of negotiations. As it awaits responses from University administrators on several major proposals, The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke to members of the union’s bargaining committee.  

A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson. 

“There’s a lot of big-ticket items that the postdocs and research associates at Penn have been facing for many years,” postdoctoral researcher in physiology and RAPUP bargaining committee member Geordan Stukey told the DP. 

He added that a lot of the union’s demands are related to compensation, “since we do drive the research mission of the University.”

In a March 12 compensation proposal, RAPUP outlined a minimum salary of $85,000 for postdocs and $103,210 for research associates. The proposal also included additional provisions on relocation payments, teaching stipends, and expanded access to housing-related programs.

“The general affordability of life has gone up through the roof, and wages are not keeping in time with that rising affordability,” Stukey said.

Postdoctoral researcher in radiology and RAPUP bargaining member Ryan Fair wrote in a statement to the DP that the union has “been encouraged by the progress of our bargaining committee so far, with eight articles already agreed to between us and administration,” but they have not received responses from Penn on “core benefits like compensation, healthcare, childcare, and retirement.”

In the union’s most recent healthcare proposal, RAPUP called for full employer-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for postdocs and their dependents, along with terms on expanded mental health care and lower out-of-pocket costs.

A separate childcare proposal requests subsidies that would cap childcare costs at a percentage of salary for workers enrolled in Penn-affiliated programs, as well as monthly payments to support external childcare expenses.

According to a February bargaining update from RAPUP, Penn “strongly objected” to childcare subsidies and “repeatedly asked: ‘Why do you think it’s our obligation to pay for childcare?’”

Postdoctoral researcher of genetics Emily Feierman wrote in a statement on a RAPUP social media post that Penn’s message to the union regarding childcare support was “deeply offensive and out of touch.” 

“Without meaningful institutional support, Postdocs and Research Associates are forced to shoulder the burden of deciding whether having children is financially or professionally possible at all,” Feierman wrote. 

Protections for international researchers also emerged as a central issue in negotiations. In a January proposal, RAPUP called for the University to reimburse visa-related costs and ensure continued employment in cases of visa delays or disruptions.

“International researchers face a whole suite of additional issues that domestic workers don’t face,” Stukey told the DP, adding that Penn has “largely ignored” their needs.

According to a March 24 press release, more than 450 postdocs and research associates have signed onto a letter urging Penn Provost John Jackson Jr. to reach an agreement on proposals related to appointment length and international researcher support.

RAPUP’s ongoing negotiations with the University come after Penn reached an agreement with its graduate worker union, Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania, earlier this year.

“GET-UP’s massive and very impressive win has really set a great model for us, and has assisted our bargaining efforts in certain ways thus far,” Stukey said. “RAPUP has a lot of lessons to learn in looking at GET-UP’s campaign and how they negotiated and navigated their way through their campaign.”

As bargaining continues, Fair wrote that RAPUP’s negotiations could influence expectations for postdoctoral researchers and research associates across campus.

“Alongside milestones like GET-UP’s recent agreement, we see this as part of a growing movement to raise standards across the industry and push for systemic change in how research labor is valued and supported,” Fair wrote.

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