Higher education organizing has been going full tilt this spring, swelling the ranks of AFT members and strengthening the union’s position as the largest faculty and staff union in the country. Behind each of these new affiliates are the people who work every day to make the education experience of students in public colleges and universities—people who deserve decent pay, job security, academic freedom and a voice in the workplace—the best it can be.
Brown University postdocs
Joining the growing union movement at Brown University, the Brown Postdoc Labor Organization became the first union for postdoctoral researchers and dean’s faculty fellows to unionize on campus. The administration voluntarily recognized the union after signatures from a majority of those eligible for membership were validated, forgoing the usual voting process.
BPLO joins the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals/AFT Local 6516, in company with Brown’s Labor Organization of Community Coordinators, Graduate Labor Organization and Teaching Assistant Labor Organization. That union solidarity is expected to serve workers on campus well. “Our generation [is] realizing that you can’t just rely on the benevolence of institutions to protect your rights,” postdoctoral research fellow and BPLO organizer Sarah Neville told the Brown Daily Herald. “You have to stand up and be in solidarity with your co-workers to get what you deserve.”
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