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Read about the negotiations and highlights of the former bargaining years below.
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2023-2024 Postdoc Bargaining
Second Contract bargaining for Postdoctoral employees started Fall 2023!
Highlights of Our First Contract
Our first contract established critical workplace rights and ensured significant economic improvements for Postdocs
Key highlights of the contract include:
Through bargaining, we were able to buildupon these gains during the negotiation for the second contract.
Highlights of Our First Contract
Our first contract established critical workplace rights and ensured significant economic improvements for Postdocs
Key highlights of the contract include:
- 10% initial total monetary gain (salary, retirement, healthcare savings) for most Postdocs
- Includes access to retirement benefits for the first time ever
- Minimum 3% annual pay increase upon each future reappointment
- Enhanced protections against sexual and other forms of harassment and discrimination
- Paid maternity and parental leave
- Significant cost savings for the same level of health insurance coverage
Through bargaining, we were able to buildupon these gains during the negotiation for the second contract.
2020 Postdoc Bargaining
In 2020, the Union began the process of bargaining for the first Postdoc contract at UConn!
UConn Postdoc Union Negotiations
After ten months of bargaining, we entered Fall 2019 at a critical juncture. While we were proud to have reached agreement on more than 15 contract articles, we entered a new academic year facing major challenges on some of the core issues that led a strong majority of Postdocs to form our union in the first place.
For example
After ten months of bargaining, we entered Fall 2019 at a critical juncture. While we were proud to have reached agreement on more than 15 contract articles, we entered a new academic year facing major challenges on some of the core issues that led a strong majority of Postdocs to form our union in the first place.
For example
- Sexual Harassment and Discrimination: UConn had rejected our proposal for Postdocs to have some of the same rights and protections as GAs on sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination, such as interim protective measures during an investigation and enhanced access to representation.
- Health Insurance: UConn insisted that Postdocs continue to pay significantly higher “non union” healthcare premiums than the tens of thousands of other unionized state employees, including our own PIs
- Retirement: UConn had denied Postdocs access to a retirement plan, which virtually all other full-time state employees have. In bargaining, they had refused to address this substantial inequity
- Compensation: In contrast to our proposal for annual pay increases for ALL postdocs, UConn had proposed a one-time 2% increase to the minimum salary, no increase for those already above the minimum, and no assurance of any increases in future years, a proposal that would actually move us backwards from current policies and practices.
Pursuing all avenues for a fair contract. Because of UConn’s firm rejection of some of our core priorities, as of Fall 2019 we had chosen to pursue several additional avenues in order to secure the best possible compensation, benefits and workplace rights for Postdocs.
- First, given our belief that Postdocs deserve the same, more affordable, insurance premiums and access to retirement benefits as tens of thousands of other unionized full-time state employees, we pursued grievances through the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) to achieve those goals. SEBAC has an agreement with the state covering all unionized state employees that we believe entitles UConn Postdocs to the lower premiums and access to retirement benefits. Given UConn’s failure to make any meaningful proposals on these topics, we felt compelled to pursue every option to achieve progress on these topics.
- Second, we invoked the interest arbitration process, a process whereby a neutral person hears from both the Union and University and issues a binding decision on final contract language for each outstanding issue, as a way to get through the overall stalemate in negotiations as an alternative to striking, which is prohibited in Connecticut. A majority of Postdocs voted the previous spring to authorize the bargaining committee to pursue interest arbitration if we deemed it necessary to secure fair provisions in our first contract. Even as we moved through this process, UConn was also free at any time to agree to fair provisions that would finalize our first contract without having to go through the whole process of arbitration.
