Nearing the end of his postdoctoral position, postdoctoral researcher Jake Mann said he is starting to think about applying to faculty jobs. However, due to the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to federal funding and endowment taxes, many higher education institutions have instituted hiring freezes on new faculty.
Mann said it is likely he will have to stay at his current position during this period of uncertainty in academia. Because of this, he said it is more important than ever for postdoctoral researchers and research associates to unionize.
Over the summer, postdocs gathered over 50% of their bargaining pools’ signatures in a campaign for salary increases.
“(The University’s) response was relatively dismissive, and with no offer to negotiate or open up any broader conversation about postdoc issues here at Northwestern,” Mann said.
The postdocs began a card campaign, collecting signatures of the potential bargaining unit on union authorization cards.
Since then, a majority of postdocs and research associates on NU’s Evanston and Chicago campuses have signed these cards, according to postdoctoral researcher Steven Baksa.
“We were able to see the power of the graduate workers union, and what they were able to achieve through going through the process of unionization,” Mann said. “It really made the case that in order to actually make real and lasting change here, we need to organize so that we can force Northwestern to the negotiating table.”
Baksa said the campaign is close to officially filing for a union election with a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board. However, the fate of the NLRB is uncertain under the Trump administration.
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, he fired former President Joe Biden’s nominee, Gwynne Wilcox. Wilcox has since sued Trump for her firing.
“This leaves the current board with only two members. This is a five-member board, and they’re unable to act if they lack a quorum (of three members),” political science Prof. Daniel Galvin said. “By firing this Democratic-appointed member of the NLRB, Trump has effectively rendered the NLRB incapable of doing its job.”
Galvin said the NLRB acts like an independent appellate court for disputes between labor and management. Rulings made at a regional level can be appealed to the NLRB, he said.
While the paralyzed national board may not affect local unions immediately, Galvin said it essentially prevents the board from making rulings in any appeal process.
“If there’s a dispute, it’ll get stuck in a kind of purgatory, where the NLRB won’t be able to adjudicate,” Galvin said.
Mann said while they are following the news relating to the NLRB, the postdocs are “just moving on as usual.”
Still, many postdocs have felt the effects of the Trump administration’s policy. Postdoctoral researcher Valentina Olivera-Pasilio, who is originally from Uruguay, said she was very concerned about Trump’s policy.
The future of academia is at risk, especially for federal researchers, Olivera-Pasilio said. Beyond job security, she said a union could help prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
“We’re trying to talk to people to try to make them feel like unionization is the way to secure our jobs in a way, trying to use this for something good (by) promoting unionization efforts,” Olivera-Pasilio said. “I think that is the only way that we can be more relaxed in our workplace.”
Mann also noted that many postdocs feel anxious about what might happen with federal funding cuts. He emphasized the importance of taking feelings of anxiety and turning them into action.
With the 10% reduction in non-personnel spending, Mann said there has been frustration about the lack of transparency from the University. The impact of these budget cuts on postdocs and other researchers is also unclear, he said.
“My biggest hope at the moment is that we can feel safer and protected and enabled to continue our research with job security, that we can continue our projects, continue to progress through our careers and not be left out to dry by the University in the face of these federal funding cuts,” Mann said.
Email: ninethkanieskikoso2027@u.northwestern.edu
X: @ninethkk
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