Postdoctoral researchers at UMass unionize

Boston Globe ^ | February 7, 2010 | Tracy Jan

[reaganaut1]

Enough is enough. Post-docs, complaining of low pay while conducting vital research, are rising up in university towns across the state.

Nearly 300 postdoctoral researchers at University of Massachusetts campuses in Amherst, Boston, and Dartmouth joined the United Auto Workers union, becoming the first post-doc researchers in the state to unionize. The move triggers a process that will require the university system to negotiate over wages, health insurance, job security, and other workplace issues.

“We’ve taken this step so we can protect our rights on the job, and make sure post-docs working on different campuses and in different labs are treated fairly and receive comparable pay and benefits,’’ Simona Maccarrone, a postdoctoral researcher at UMass Amherst, said in a written statement.

The United Auto Workers represents workers at more than 40 colleges and universities in the country, including 25,000 teaching assistants, research assistants, graders, tutors and other student academic employees at UMass, the University of California, California State University, and the University of Washington.

[listenhillary]

If they went on strike, would anyone notice or care?

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

And Mass. has Socialized medicine already...so maybe the Unions taking over medicine and health care is Plan B.

Socialized? How? Health insurance is now a legal requirement in Massachusetts, but you buy it from the insurance companies not the government. Those on welfare or deemed to poor still get it paid for by the State. It was the same before Romneycare except one was not forced to have insurance.