unionization: is it enhancing the postdoc experience?
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Unionization: Is it Enhancing the Postdoc Experience?. NAS: March 8, 2012 Christine D. Des Jarlais Assistant Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs UCSF Graduate Division. University of California Ten- C ampus System. 6,309. 6,309 UC Postdocs. UCSF 1,100 Postdocs. AGE. VISA. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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UNIONIZATION: IS IT ENHANCING THE POSTDOC EXPERIENCE?
NAS: March 8, 2012Christine D. Des JarlaisAssistant Dean for Postdoctoral AffairsUCSF Graduate Division
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University of California Ten-Campus System
6,309
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6,309 UC Postdocs
Postdoc Employee
80%
Postdoc Fel-low12%
Postdoc Paid Direct8%
female40%
male60%
International63%
US Citizens37%
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UCSF 1,100 Postdocs
intl54%
US 46%
women48%men
52%
em-ployees
66%
fellows22%
paid-direct12%
25-2912%
30-3556%
35-3926%
40-606%
J170%
H1B20%
F15%
other5%
AGEVISA
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Policy/Unionization Timeline
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Before Contract: COSEPUP recs implemented at UC
• Postdoc-only policy, APM 390 (2003)• Postdoc-only benefits plan (2005)• Increased communication between
University and PD• Annual review required (but not
written or enforced)• 5-year time limit
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COSEPUP recs, cont.
• Full access to Career Center (at UCSF, UCB)• Appointment letter required• Minimum salary established • Postdoc data collected• 3 unique title codes• PDO and PDA established• International Office• Faculty mentoring program
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Why did Postdocs Unionize?
Possible factors:
Postdocs…..Faculty…… UAW……
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Powerless
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Stressed
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Invisible
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Faculty
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Faculty Mentor?
Or Tor-Mentor?
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The self-replicating professor…
Not enough faculty positionsNeed to train for other careers
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The UAW
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UAW has represented 12,000 UC graduate students since 1999
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UAW Membership and Dues Dropping
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Bargaining•Teams•Within team dynamics•Unusual power dynamics
• Classic leverage points not applicable --Will Postdocs Really Strike?
UAW said UC was stalling• Congressional hearing
•17 months
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Needed to educate UAW & LR staff
•Brought in experts:•Contracts & Grants•Benefits Brokers•International experts
Result: 1st stand alone PD union contract
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The Contract:~42% of all postdocs went to the polls
Of those who voted, 96% voted YES
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UC-UAW Contract•Pre-employment issues still in UC control•Covers postdocs in all 3 title codes•Preserved Academic Judgment•What is not in contract is retained as management right
•No Direct Dealing•No Strike Article
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ACADEMIC JUDGMENT • Preserved as a management right:
• Recruitment, Appointment, Qualifications• Assignment of duties and responsibilities• Communication & mentoring• Work performance standards• Decision to discipline, dismiss, layoff• Determine research topics, goals, quality, etc• Determine all aspects of presentations and
publications• Timing & amount of merit increases
• Typically cannot be arbitrated
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COMPENSATION • Phase in NIH/NRSA scale• Starting June 1, 2011, all new appointments made to NRSA scale
• Nothing precludes University from paying higher $• All PD appointed Aug 31, 2010 or earlier got ATB increase Sept 1, 2010
• Not required to provide salary increase between Sept 2010 through May 31, 2011
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BENEFITS • UC PSBP: health, dental, vision, STD, Life Insurance, AD&D, optional LTD
• At UCSF and UCSC, PIs must continue to cover benefits costs for dependents
• 2012: Postdocs started making contributions to HMO
• Personal Time Off: 24 days/yr at start of appointment
• Sick Leave: 12 days/yr at start of appt
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IDPs and Progress Assessments • IDP Not Required: but if Postdoc wants to create one, a process must be followed that includes PI input
• Required: PI must communicate research and progress expectations at start of each appointment year
• Required: informal periodic progress assessments and written annual review
• Not Grievable: Quality of mentoring / content of performance evals and progress assessments
• Grievable: Not following process for creating IDPs, doing progress assessments and performance evals
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Significant Changes: APM 390 vs Contract
• Policy was not as enforceable • Just Cause standard for D&D (not “just because”)• Arbitration• FMLA-like leave for those not eligible for FMLA• Paid PTO & Sick Leave not accrued – given up-front• IDPs & written evaluations• Labor-Management Meetings for ongoing discussions and flow of information
• Union requests for information
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No Substantive Changes•Definition of a PD – still trainees•Recruiting and hiring process•Benefits •Retirement for PD Employees•Layoff procedure•D&D procedures•Grievance procedure
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Union Contract and COSEPUP•Compensation commensurate with PD contributions to research…
•Written performance expectations & annual review
•PD have major input into union contract•Requiring better quality data•Forces university to review PD status and experience
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Faculty Reaction• Slow to respond to organizing campaign• Very apprehensive• After contract
• Relationship with individual PD – no real change• Research & lab dynamics – no real change• Mostly unaware of contract provisions• Not really doing anything differently
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Postdoc Reactions• Positive: LARGE ally behind them• Positive: Salary now must increase each appt year
• Negative: Union tactics too aggressive• Negative: Mandatory fees (for those who don’t join)
• Wary of going to union about PI problems• Confusion about distinctions among union, PDA, and PDO
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Power Differential Still a Big Issue
• Union has not made a big difference at the individual level
• Union does make big difference at institutional level
• PD see Union as “watchdog”
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International Postdocs• Increasing numbers and percentages• Differing cultural issues • Role remains largely unexplored • US offers prestige & better wages• Some hope H1B will lead to PR• Some evidence that Faculty treat international PD differently
• Some internationals appointed in non-PD titles• Lower wages• Little PI accountability
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Impact of unionization?• Too soon to tell
• Will UC be more or less competitive for postdocs?
• Fewer or more postdocs? • Will faculty behavior change?• Will relationship between PI and postdoc change?
• For vast majority of PIs and PD, probably not much difference
• For the few problem PIs and PDs, unionization likely to make significant difference
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Enhancing the PD Experience: Vol 2• Focus on International PD• COLA• More guidance in choosing a lab• More attention paid to the needs of women PD: Improved childbearing and parental leave
• Learn from URM PD• Retirement options for PD on stipends• Allow postdocs to be PIs• Exit surveys and tracking esp for PD networking
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Fundamental Disconnect
Funding agencies and COSEPUP need more dialogue to get in sync – there is a NEW REALITY
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Changing the research system?
• Faculty?• Cheap and disposable trainees
• System itself is exploitative• Career structure is broken• Would research grind to a halt without ready supply of PD?
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Who can fix the Research Enterprise?
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What’s good for the Postdoc is good for the Research Enterprise
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Is unionization necessary?It boils down to the individual faculty member:
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Additional ResourcesUC-UAW Postdoc Union Contract:http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/policies_employee_labor_relations/collective_bargaining_units/post_docs/agreement.html
Publications on international postdocs:• “Unseen Workers in the Academic Factory: Perceptions of Neoracism Among
International Postdocs in the United States and the United Kingdom,” Brendan Cantwell & Jenny J. Lee
http://her.hepg.org/content/w54750105q78p451/
• “Academic in-sourcing: international postdoctoral employment and new modes of academic production,”
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360080X.2011.550032
• Transnational Mobility and International Academic Employment: Gatekeeping in an Academic Competition Arena”
http://www.springerlink.com/content/e17t0168633x200h/