The Union for Postdocs at Umass Amherst PRO/UAW is the Union for Post-Docs at UMass. Through collective bargaining we will have the legal right to negotiate with the University as equals for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
(1)
We have established our Union on the Amherst, Boston, and Dartmouth campuses. Once it was certified we elected a bargaining team and surveyed the members about what they would like to see in a contract. Once we reach a tentative agreement we will have an opportunity to democratically approve the agreement we negotiate with UMass before it becomes a legally binding contract. Once we have a contract, the University will no longer be able to unilaterally change the terms and conditions of our employment.
Mission: Bargaining Team Members: UMass Amherst: Jing Su, Chemical Engineering Scott Schlossberg, Natural Resources Conservation Simona Maccarrone, Physics Kamalakanta Routray, Chemical Engineering UMass Boston Vanja Dunjko, Physics UMass Dartmouth: Nagarajan Thirunavukkarsu, Chemistry To See Bargaining Team Statements Visit the Website: http://umassprouaw.org/?page_id=587
Operating as usual
Are you a PRO member? Do you know any new postdocs who have yet to join our awesome Union? Have you seen our glorious new website? Did you know we have our first Union Co-Chairs? Did you know you can now become a member by filling out a form online? OMG, CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE!
https://prouaw2322.org
The Union for Postdocs at UMass Amherst
Solidarity and a big warm welcome to our friends at Columbia !!!
1700 postdoc researchers at Columbia University join to secure higher pay, protection for harassment victims and parental leave
UAW Local 2322
We, the rank and file and leadership of UAW Local 2322 are appalled and horrified by the white supremacist murder of George Floyd. While all of us struggle with fear of losing our breath in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, George Floyd’s brutal murder is a tragic reminder that Black people’s right to breath has always been imperiled so long as white supremacy and anti-Blackness structure the way we live and die. Here is a plague we have the power to end.
As white supremacy bends hell to repeat itself, so, too, are we hell-bent on resisting and dismantling it.
Postdocs in solidarity with Graduate Employee Organization (GEO-UAW)!!
UMass Postdocs! Please fill out this survey and share with others:
https://forms.gle/3wVGetBsrqKXU9w67
The goal of this survey is to better understand how postdocs at UMass Amherst have been impacted by campus closure and other facets of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to better understand how we as a Union can respond to these impacts.
Join us for our first Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing (PRO) Membership Meeting,
on Wednesday, May 6th from 5pm-6pm on Zoom!
Join us to share your experiences working as a postdoc during this pandemic, and let's plan together how we are going to not only survive, but thrive during this unprecedented time. You can also come just to meet your fellow postdocs and to learn more about your amazing Union!
Pre-register at the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: PRO Membership Meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Umass GEO and PRO members specifically:
Please email the union or reply here with things we can collectively demand now that the university’s plans are clearer. We need to know we can minimize workload while caring for ourselves and others...but I see umass increasing workloads with online classes and grad workers being asked to help faculty who’ve never taught online before, etc....
Let’s get creative and expansive!
As some of you may already know, UMass Amherst is threatening to pull out of funding the Amherst Family Center this year. The Amherst Family Center is an invaluable community resource that was started by grad student and faculty parents and families many years ago. It was initially a volunteer effort, and at one point, UMass Amherst got involved and took over funding. They run on a very small budget, and yet they serve so many UMass and Amherst community families. As part of UMass' broader plan to cut funding to grad student families and decimate the community resources they have developed and sustained, the University has made it clear they plan to withdraw their financial support for the place with no plan for how to help the Center transition to a self-sustaining model (non-profit). The Amherst Family Center is a space where parents can meet other parents, where parents can spend time with their young kids and have them around other kids, and it's a space that has been a lifesaver for many, particularly international parents where one parent is usually unable to work due to visa restrictions, but would otherwise be stuck at home alone with their kid(s) all day. GEO is working on collecting testimonies from families who have depended on this amazing resource (which is free for parents), and we are working with the folks there now who are doing everything they can to save the place.
I am asking folks to come to a potentially fateful meeting on Friday 2/21 at 11am in Whitmore 340V where parents from the Amherst Family Center expect to hear (finally) the University's plans.
We need to demonstrate to the administration that we see what they are doing, and we won't let it happen quietly. We need to rally support for the current, past and future families who depend on this space to demand the University do better by us and our community. However, if you do come to the meeting on 2/21, please come to listen and show allyship quietly, to permit the parent representatives to speak and keep their presentation organized and clear. If you are interested in doing more work on this as part of our broader bargaining campaign, please let us know. If you have been a parent (or are a parent) who has been a part of the Amherst Family Center, please consider sharing a written testimonial with us via email ([email protected] or [email protected]).
Even if you can't make it to this meeting on the 21st, please reach out to others to do so by sharing this email.
In Solidarity,
UMass Postdocs! We have exciting news. The University has set up the Visa Reimbursement Fund that we won in recent contract negotiations! You can check your email for more details, but here is what the University sent out:
Dear Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing (PRO) bargaining unit members,
As part of the agreement recently established with the Postdoctoral Researchers Organizing (PRO), an annual visa reimbursement fund of $15,000 was created for the purpose of reimbursing unit members of their application fees for Visas obtained from the U.S. embassy/consulate or for SEVIS fees. Transportation costs for in-country travel to a U.S consulate are not subject to reimbursement. Individual reimbursements are centrally-funded and are capped at a maximum of $1,000 per applicant.
Employees may apply from January 15 – February 28 to receive reimbursement for the previous calendar year in which the fees were incurred.
Applicants must submit the application form to begin the reimbursement process. Applicants are required to submit documents as indicated in the application. Upon approval from the Provost’s office and the International Programs Office, you will receive your reimbursement as a payroll reimbursement. For any questions please reach out to the Provost’s Academic Personnel team at [email protected].
We settled our new contract! Now we need YOU to vote on it!!! Join us for drinks, appetizers, and a really awesome new contract! Friday November 1st at the University Club on campus.
Questions? Email [email protected]
News from Providence Hospital where the boss made unilateral changes to paid time off and our POW/UAW members fought back and won’t take it any more!
“The fact of the matter is that we all feel disrespected,” said Michelle Reardon, a seven-year hospital employee who chairs the POW union. Reardon said her union’s members have upheld their end of the collective bargaining agreement, but management is not doing the same. “It’s kind of like a slap in the face to us.”
Please read this statement from the 2322 Executive Board on the state of our union and the despicable behavior of some leaders. We are appalled and infuriated about the fact that a handful of people in positions of trust in the UAW betrayed the people they represent. Nonetheless, as a local and in our workplaces we still have lots of work to do to build OUR union and that does not depend on the national union or its bureaucracy. We ONLY answer to you, our members, and we hope to figure out together, along with other locals, how to change the national leadership along with the institutional structures and practices that made this possible.
Fellow workers, Thank you for entrusting us with the leadership of your local union. We educate the very young, we provide life-saving mental and behavioral health care, we teach college and …
UAW Local 2322
Attention UMass Postdoctoral Researchers! A tentative agreement on the contract has been reached; please visit our website to learn more!
Check out the Postdoc Union Bargaining Update from today's bargaining session!
The postdoc union’s bargaining committee presented management with six proposals last week and six proposals this week, ranging from “housekeeping” edits to significant, substantive changes to the contract.
On Wednesday, June 8, 2016, the union team presented a proposal to bring postdoctoral researcher wages up to the Department of Labor’s new minimum for exempt employees, which will go into effect in December 2016. The union’s proposal is to bring the lowest-paid postdocs up to the new rate, and bring up the other salary minima by the same percentage. We had a productive discussion of both parties’ views on how to address the new DOL rule, and expect that issue to continue to be one of the main points of contention in future bargaining sessions.
Postdoctoral Researchers Organization, UAW 2322's cover photo
Stay tuned for the impact of the new overtime rules on our negotiations!
Contact [email protected] if you want information about bargaining or want to serve on the bargaining committee.
Stagnant wages have dogged workers for decades. Data from the Census Bureau released this month show that most Americans make substantially less money in inflation-adjusted terms than they did 15 years ago. To the Obama administration’s credit, this is a problem it takes seriously and is looking to…
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO WIN JUST CAUSE!
My name is Court Cline, and I am the Union Representative for the Resident Assistant Unit of UAW Local 2322 (RAU/UAW), the Union that represents all RAs and Peer Mentors at UMass-Amherst. Since April 2015, we have been bargaining a new RAU/UAW contract with the UMass administration. Although your bargaining team initially made some progress with some of their proposals, it is clear that the UMass administration is adamantly opposed to including "just cause" in your contract. Without "just cause", RAs and Peer Mentors can be terminated from their positions without any reason and without a fair process to appeal the decision. Just cause is included in every other contract on campus, but the UMass administration is claiming that RAs and Peer Mentors are a "different kind of worker" that should not be entitled to the same type of job protections that are guaranteed to other workers on campus. The RAU/UAW bargaining team has made winning "just cause" a number one priority and had decided to put additional pressure on the UMass administration.
In order to do this, we need your help.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
- Go to www.uaw2322.org to sign the RA/PM Just Cause petition
- Wear a "No Just Cause, No Peace" sticker on your shirt during the Move-In period
- Hand out flyers and get folks to sign copies of the petition during the times that you aren't working at Move-In. We are specifically looking for folks on Friday, September 4th during the following shifts: 9:00 - Noon, Noon - 3:00 PM and 3:00 - 5:00 pm
- Help to hand out flyers and get petition signatures during the Welcome Back to Campus Barbecue on September 7th from 4:00-7:00 PM
If you would like to sign up to help with our sticker, flyer and petition campaign during Move In on Friday, September 4th and/or the Welcome Back Barbecue, please send an email to [email protected].
In solidarity,
Court
More than Auto Workers
UAW Local 2322
Some great responses to sexist attitudes towards women in science. Let's continue to strengthen the protections for equal treatment in our next contract! Contact [email protected] to join the bargaining team.
Nobel Prize winner Sir Tim Hunt made headlines this week for his passionate assertions about “girls” in the lab. Persistently doomed by fatal attraction to and from his colleagues, Hunt explained to BBC Radio 4 that although he was “really sorry” for causing offense, he meant every word, as these co…
28% of Postdoc Union members have filled out our bargaining survey so far. If you are a Postdoc at UMass Amherst, please take 10 minutes to let us know what you want to see in your next contract.
Contract Ryan Quinn at [email protected] if you want to serve on the bargaining committee or if you have any questions about negotiations.
As we prepare to begin negotiations with UMass Amherst over wages, hours, and working conditions for Postdoctoral researchers here on campus, the Postdoctoral Researcher Organization (PRO) wants to survey all postdocs on campus to set our bargaining priorities and agenda. Please take 10 minutes...
UMass Postdocs: Take 10 minutes to fill out the bargaining committee's survey. We need YOUR input so we can set priorities in our new contract.
As we prepare to begin negotiations with UMass Amherst over wages, hours, and working conditions for Postdoctoral researchers here on campus, the Postdoctoral Researcher Organization (PRO) wants to survey all postdocs on campus to set our bargaining priorities and agenda. Please take 10 minutes...
Attention Members of the Postdoc Union, UAW 2322 at UMass Amherst: Nominations are open for bargaining committee positions from now until noon on April 17. Nominate yourself or a fellow union member to bargain a new contract with the University and build power for Postdocs at UMass by sending the nomination to [email protected] !
The Postdoctoral Researcher Organization (PRO-UAW) of UAW Local 2322 is pleased to announce that nominations are open for 4 (four) Bargaining Committee Members. Any Postdoc union members interested in nominating themselves or any other member for these positions can email [email protected] with...
Attention UAW 2322:
We have just learned that the Department of Labor Relations have ordered an add-on election for the UMass Amherst Peer Mentors to decide whether or not to join the Resident Assistant Union, a unit of UAW 2322. We are thrilled with the DLR's decision and expect the Peer Mentors to overwhelmingly vote to join our union.
UAW 2322-2232 Merger Vote Results – | United Auto Workers Local 2322
Dear UAW Local 2322 Members, Voting has concluded for the proposed merger with Local 2232, and the majority of those voting have voted in favor of the merger. I learned today that Local 2232 has voted in favor of merging with our Local pending our vote. The merger must be approved by the International Executive Board at their next meeting by the end of February, at which time I will announce the results of that decision. [ 11 more words. ]
MA Senator Elizabeth Warren has a plan to increase NIH funding by fining drug companies for breaking the law. This would be good news for public research funding and UMASS postdocs!
Let's require those big-time drug companies that break the law to put more money into funding medical research.
United Auto Workers Local 2322
Our contract expires on March 31, 2015. Join your fellow postdoctoral researchers to help bargain a new contract! Your union, the Postdoctoral Researcher Organization/UAW Local 2322, is preparing to bargain a second contract for when our current agreement expires at the end of March. In the last contract, we won paid time off, salary minimums, subsidized childcare, and groundbreaking protections for international postdocs! [ 135 more words. ]
UAW 2322 Picnic!
UAW Members, Friends & Family:
Join your fellow Union Members at the UAW Local 2322 Conservation & Recreation Committee Labor Day Picnic THIS SUNDAY on Mt. Tom at the Reservation Pavilion ( http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/parks/trails/mtom.pdf.)
The picnic begins at 3:00 pm and will end by 6:00 pm sharp (when the park closes). All members, family and friends are encouraged to attend. This is a free event but driving up the mountain will cost $2 (drivers will be reimbursed when they sign in!).
There will be plenty of food and drinks for all.
Schedule of Events:
3:00 pm: Welcome! Come sign in and check out what is happening in your Union. Sign up for committees.
4:00 pm: Let the games begin! We will have kick ball, badminton, bocce ball and more!
5:30 pm: Wrap up and start saying good bye.
If you have any questions or need a ride, please contact Jocelyn at [email protected] or call 413-534-7600. RSVPs are strongly encouraged:[email protected]
104 Hampshire House, UMass Amherst
Amherst Center, MA
01003
| Monday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Friday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Postdoctoral Researchers Organization, UAW 2322 posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Postdoctoral Researchers Organization, UAW 2322:
UMass Undergrad Linguistics Club
University of Massachusetts Amherst, AmherstPBS Graduate Student Diversity Committee
Tobin Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, AmherstUMass Amherst Residential Life Student Leader
Student Leadership Center, 101 Moore Hall, AmherstUMass Amherst Criminal Justice Certificate Pr
Amherst 01003Massachusetts Society of Professors - UMass A
121 Hampshire House, University of Massachusetts, AmherstMusic Education at UMass-Amherst
Amherst 01003UMass Extension Landscape Nursery and Urban F
University of Massachusetts, AmherstUMass Transportation Center - UMTC
214 Marston Hall, AmherstUMass Amherst Admissions and Tours
300 Massachusetts Ave, AmherstCenter for Heritage and Society, University o
Design Building, 551 N. Pleasant Street, University of Massachusetts Amherst, AmherstUMass Amherst Office of Admissions
243 Whitmore Admin Bldg, 181 Presidents Drive, AmherstSpanish and Portuguese UMass Amherst
416 Herter Hall, Amherst
Amherst College Black Student Union
The Octagon South Pleasant St
