Benjamin Cain

Annotations

1. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   Yes, and that was also part of our initial contract. The UC pushed for postdocs to pay into their health care. Because we have our union, we were able to negotiate to keep that at a fixed percentage for most of the contract instead of it increasing over time. And if you compare what PDs at UC pay into health care versus UC staff, or versus postdocs at other similar institutions (Stanford, CalTech, etc) you'll see that UC postdocs get a far better deal on healthcare. Plus, we get a say in how the healthcare is managed, so that we're getting the benefits that postdocs need most.

2. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   And here your math does not follow. Taking your premise (which I don't really agree with, since it's been more than 2% increase in average salary) the increase in union dues (for postdocs who have smartly chosen to join the union, which is what the 1.44% corresponds to) would only be 1.44% of 2%, which is 0.0288%, much less than the increase in salary (which again is much more significant than you present it). The reason your percent argument doesn't follow is that it neglects the annual raises that a postdoc will get, which in turn compound the increase in salaries.

3. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   This does not follow at all. The reason that the increase in postdoc salaries tracked with the NRSA fellowship increases is exactly because the salary minima set in the contract are tied to the NRSA fellowship scales. Furthermore, few postdocs got any sort of annual increase in their salary before the union contract. Now ALL postdocs are guaranteed an annual raise. There is a direct line between the contract and economic gains for postdocs. While it's true that some PIs would pay postdocs in their labs following at or above the increased NRSA scale, it is far from universal.

4. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   Your comment makes some significant factual mistakes. For one - there was no contract before the union. There were appointment letters, but there was nothing really governing what could or couldn't be in them. Minimum salaries are not really covered by any sort of federal/state law (unless you're thinking of the minimum wage, which I really don't think applies), and the gain in salaries was not that postdocs were going to be told what they made, its that there were rules set up to make sure that postdoc salaries lived up to a minimum standard. Minimum salaries, guaranteed pay raises, etc.

   And while it's good that your PI was paying for your healthcare, that was not universal by any means. Now all PDs have access to healthcare coverage at reasonable and fixed costs. You're right that most (all?) visas require health insurance, but that doesn't automatically mean you can afford it. Many postdocs were forced to buy bad travel insurance that didn't really cover anything other than catastrophic injury because they couldn't afford to pay what UC told them they had to. That was fixed by the union.

   I agree that the 1 year appointment minimum seems excessively reasonable, but the truth is that many PDs had to deal with the administrative headache and job insecurity of month-to-month or rolling 3 month appointments instead of longer appointments.

   Most postdocs at UC join the union and all postdocs at UC have and do benefit from it. While it's true that many postdocs are treated perfectly well, that number is increased by the efforts of the union and its members. The average postdoc makes 12% more than 5 years ago. That's not true outside the UC. The difference? Our union.

5. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   See my post above, but UC postdoc salaries have gone up and postdocs do have a recourse - that's why we have a union.

6. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   If you'd like to see a benefit, I recommend that you start by comparing the out of pocket costs of the faculty/staff health care plans to the postdoc benefits package. The union-negotiated and co-managed plan is significantly less expensive and postdocs pay far less than other UC employees. This continues to exist because of the postdoc union.

7. Point of View: How postdocs benefit from building a union

   As a point of fact, postdoc salaries have increased about 12% since the union formed, and there are now enforceable minimum salaries that include annual pay increases so that as postdocs gain experience they are paid more. While it is true that many postdocs had NIH fellowship scale salaries prior to the union, many did not, and almost none got any sort of salary increase year to year. For the few instances where a postdoc does not get the minimum salary for their experience, they do indeed have a recourse: the union! The union is regularly making sure that postdocs are being paid the amount that the UC agreed to in the contract. If you're a UC postdoc and are not being paid the minimum, you should contact the union.

   It's a similar story with the benefits. There were indeed many people who were getting health care before the union formed. However many were forced to pay huge amounts out of pocket for it, many were not allowed to have their partners or dependents on their plans, etc. The good experiences of some does not negate the experiences of the rest. The union has been a benefit for postdocs overall - which is why most UC postdocs are members.

   And I have to say that I'm surprised that some commenters were unprepared for the fact that in a Point of View article, the authors (who are mentioned as being UAW 5810 members in the abstract) brought a point of view.