The Hopkins Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing Committee (Hopkins-PRO) hosted a union launch picnic at Wyman Park Dell on Saturday, August 31. The event, which took place from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., marked a significant achievement for the group in its ongoing efforts to go public and establish an official postdoctoral union at the University.
Attended by postdoctoral researchers from various departments, the picnic allowed members of the organizing committee to engage with their peers, gather support, and foster a sense of community among postdoctoral researchers.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Kevin Nathan, an organizer involved with Hopkins-PRO since its inception in late 2022, shared his motivation for supporting the unionization efforts.
“I’ve always supported workers’ rights, but I didn’t even know unionizing existed in academia until I heard about this initiative. When I was approached, I was immediately on board,” he said.
He noted his experiences during graduate school in Texas, a state not known for its union-friendly environment.
Nathan added, “The struggles I faced during graduate school could have been alleviated with better protections and support.”
The Hopkins-PRO union began gaining momentum when the organizing committee launched its card-signing campaign earlier this year in May. Working closely with an organizer from the United Auto Workers, Hopkins-PRO members have been gathering signatures to file for formal recognition of their union. Nathan highlighted the significance of this campaign, emphasizing that it represents a collective effort to secure better working conditions for current and future postdoctoral researchers.
“Even if I don’t see the benefits during my tenure, I’m committed to fighting for better conditions for those who come after me,” he said.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Jaime Eugenin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, discussed his perspective on the importance of postdoctoral work for undergraduates interested in pursuing academia.
“I think many undergraduates exposed to research would know the high expectations of working in a lab. Science, unfortunately, is a very competitive field. You have to produce publishable results, which is often stressful. I recommend people pursue a postdoc, but I believe the conditions could improve,” he said.
According to Eugenin, the current stage of the unionizing process is gathering support and collecting signatures to file for union certification with the National Labor Relations Board. They are focused on spreading awareness of the union and engaging in discussions with the administration to improve the working conditions of postdoctoral researchers.
Eugenin also commented on the number of international postdoctoral researchers present and the challenges they face in the U.S. with visa applications. He mentioned that nearly 60–70% of postdoctoral researchers at Hopkins are international scholars, many of whom are joining the union to advocate for their rights.
Jared Tangeman, a new postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Neuroscience at Hopkins, echoed these sentiments in an interview with The News-Letter. Tangeman, who recently joined the organizing efforts, stressed the importance of fair working conditions and job security for postdoctoral researchers.
“Postdocs are a driving force behind much of the research at Johns Hopkins, and it’s crucial that they are supported, both professionally and personally,” Tangeman said.
He pointed to the successful unionization efforts at other universities as evidence that unionization can lead to significant gains in compensation and job stability. Though most attendees were postdoctoral researchers from the University’s various campuses, graduate students from the Teachers and Researchers United (TRU-UE) were also in attendance.
In an interview with The News-Letter, graduate student and TRU-UE Political Action Coordinator Janvi Madhani, described her motivation to attend the event.
“I think it's really important that we support each other’s fights against Hopkins in order to build worker power here on campus. A lot of us struggle with the same workplace issues, and there's a lot of knowledge sharing that we can do between both groups,” she said.
The organizers of Hopkins-PRO said the group has no formal affiliation with TRU-UE.
Many attendees at the event believe that the union will not only improve working conditions for postdoctoral researchers but also contribute to better research outcomes and a stronger academic community at Hopkins.
“I think it is important for the research going on at Johns Hopkins that postdocs are supported professionally, and that they have the means to support themselves, just to make it a more attractive job and a more stable job. That goes a long way in making better science,“ Tangeman said.
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