Dear Postdoc Colleagues,
As you may be aware, UAW has petitioned again to unionize most postdoctoral titles at all UC campuses. This most recent petition was distributed to postdocs and posted on departmental notice boards. It is also attached below for your review.
Voting for/against a labor union is a personal decision for each of us to make. Because the outcome will affect all our employment conditions and pay significantly, SoPS encourages you to make an informed decision. To facilitate the free exchange of ideas, you are encouraged to post your comments and thoughts on this matter on our forums (details below). You may do so anomymously if you are not comfortable revealing your identity. We at SoPS welcome open debate on any issue that pertains to postdoc life.
In addition to our forums, IF YOU WANT SoPS TO ORGANIZE AN OPEN Q/A MEETING (i.e. Townhall meeting) next week and invite members of the administration and UAW to answer your questions before the 8/1/08 deadline, please indicate your preference here:
http://www.postdoc.ucla.edu/node/1430
NOTE: By law, each postdoc still has the choice to intervene in her/his vote against/for UAW's petition by 8/1/08. Please see the other attached PDF documents for details.
Forum Details:
There are a couple of ongoing threads in our discussion forums (where you can add comments anonymously without login), and you can also start new ones if you login or register as a new SoPS member.
http://www.postdoc.ucla.edu/node/1424 (New discussion thread - 2008)
http://www.postdoc.ucla.edu/node/591 (Old discussion thread - 2006)
Other links:
1) http://www.prouaw.org/home/home.php (Pro Union Website)
2) http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gss/postdoc/pdunion.htm (Official, neutral and complete UCLA Grad Division Information on Unionization)
3) For neutrality it is noted that at this time there is no known official website with views opposing UAW's petition for UC postdocs. The closest similar case is noted here for parity: http://www.atwhatcost.org. (use the contact link above to update this section).
Sincerely,
Sarah Warburton (SoPS President, Current)
and
Ajaykumar Gopal (SoPS President, 2007-2008)
DISCLAIMER: SoPS is an advisory group to UCLA and is required to remain neutral on this issue. It is not responsible for the views expressed by individuals in our forums.
