Greetings,

The postdocs at Rutgers University are voting to form a union. You can help. Email info@rutgerspostdocs.org or call 732-745-0300 to request a union authorization card to vote YES for the union. Download the flyer and spread the word. Come to the Post-doc Happy Hour at Charlie Brown's Steakhouse at 247 Raritan Avenue, Highland Park, NJ 08904 from 4-8 PM this Friday, May 29, 2009 Attend our next union meeting on Tuesday, June 2nd at 1:00pm at 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
A message from Rutgers AAUP-AFT President Lisa Klein:
As president of the Rutgers Council of AAUP-AFT Chapters representing over 5,000 faculty and graduate employees at the University, I strongly support your efforts to join our union and gain collective bargaining rights.  Many of your colleagues at Rutgers are already members of our union, including the grant-based research faculty with whom you work. Our union has been negotiating collective bargaining agreements with the University since 1970. We have consistently and effectively negotiated competitive pay and benefits, regardless of funding source. In addition, we have been tireless advocates for intellectual freedom. Through our national affiliates - the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) - we have lobbied for effective visa reform and increased federal funding of scientific research. With your support, we can continue to be advocates for these issues. As a Principal Investigator, I welcome the unionization of postdocs because I want clear rules in determining the pay and working conditions for researchers employed on my grants. We know that improved pay and benefits will help Rutgers to continue to attract top notch Ph.D. researchers. In this way, our university will remain a center of research excellence. I pledge total support from our union in your efforts to improve your working life at Rutgers through a union voice. We look forward to a collaboration which will make us all stronger.
Rutgers Postdoc Voices for a Union:
	Joanna Chui CABM I am here for science. I'm so consumed with my research that I rarely think about how I'm treated at work, what benefits I'm entitled to, whether I have job security or if the postdoc next to me has the same salary as I do. But when I do think of these things, I realize the unfairness of the situation. Yes, the majority of postdocs have good agreements and relationships with their PI, but what happens when something changes? We have a right to be in the conversation.
	Alan Wan Chemistry As the university administration confronts an unprecedented financial crisis, all employees, including post-docs, must have a seat at the table where budget issues are resolved. Postdocs, an absolutely essential part of Rutgers' research effort, must be treated with the same level of respect that our unionized colleagues (which includes faculty, staff, and graduate students) already enjoy. Unfortunately, our lack of a union means that the administration can unilaterally cut postdoc programs, salaries and/or positions. A strong turnout during our card campaign will send a clear message to the university, and to the academic community as a whole, that we post-doctoral researchers want our voices to be heard.
	Meredith Staples Center for Women and Work At Rutgers, we are voting for a union in a process called "card-check." Every postdoc must vote. Anyone who chooses not to sign, or forgets to fill out the card, or fails while on a research trip to mail the card back to an organizer, will be counted as a vote against the union. If we succeed, a large postdoc majority will get out the message loud and clear that our concerns need to be addressed. As a graduate employee at Rutgers, I was in the same bargaining unit as the full-time faculty. Grads had autonomy to discuss issues and make changes, but when we negotiated our contract, we had the combined strength of the faculty and graduate employees. Postdocs can have this too, but only if we vote. Read more Post-Doc Testimonials