PRO/UAW, the union that tried and failed in 2006 to organize the postdocs on the 10 University of California (UC) campuses, has received official notification that it succeeded on its second try. On 19 August, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) faxed a letter to the organizers stating that the union, known formally as Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, had submitted valid signatures from a majority of the approximately 5000 UC postdocs eligible to petition for union representation. Under state law, unionization is therefore automatic. The move brings an estimated 10% of U.S. postdocs into UAW, an AFL-CIO-affiliated national union that represents more than a million other members, including UC academic employees, such as graders, teaching assistants, and lecturers.
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Submitted by kevin lindstrom Science and Engineering Liaison Librarian
It looks like the UC postdoc labor union is having trouble with reaching an agreement with the UC administration and some postdocs who are not happy with the union to begin with want it decertified: http://ucpostdocs.wordpress.com/ Pretty nasty stuff is being said about UAW, but quite frankly I’m not surprised 🙂