What is the Brown University Postdoc Labor Organization (BPLO)?

The Brown University Postdoc Labor Organization, or BPLO,  is an organization of Postdocs and Dean’s Faculty Fellows (DFFs) at Brown that fights for the well-being of all of us. BPLO is a democratic, worker-run organization that only exists because some brave Postdocs decided to create it! Together, we are standing up and fighting for a better workplace.

What is a Union? Why should we have one?

A Union is an organization of workers who come together to fight for changes in our workplace that we couldn’t win otherwise. When we form a Union, we win the right to negotiate a contract with Brown admin while building an organization that can help us continue improving the quality of life for not just post-docs and researchers, but all workers in the Brown community.

What can we win if we form a Union?

That’s ultimately up to us! We get to decide what we want to propose and negotiate in our first contract.

Concretely, though, we can win meaningful pay raises, protections against over-work, stronger policies against discrimination and harassment, better support for non-citizens and visa holders, and more. Most importantly, we win the right to file a grievance, that is, if admin or faculty violate any provision written in the contract, we can begin a formal process that forces them to correct and resolve the issue.

I’m a non-citizen/international researcher. Can I be in a Union?

Yes! In the United States, workers rights are much stronger than all other non-citizens rights. So if you work a legal job in the US, you are entitled to every protection that comes along with that. That includes the right to join a union and organize for better working conditions with your co-workers. 

How will Brown respond? Will they punish us?

On the contrary, Brown will likely give us a pay raise immediately! This is what happened when Undergrads organized TALO in 2023. This is what happened when Grads organized GLO in 2018. And this is exactly what happened when a few Starbucks baristas in Buffalo, NY organized in 2021: Starbucks raised the starting wage for every barista in the country to over $15/hr.

We already know how Brown is going to respond. They’ll probably make a website called “Be Informed,” like this one for the Undergrads and this one for the Grads. They’ll also probably send out misleading e-mail messages to everyone in the Brown community, like the one you may have seen over the summer about GLO contract negotiations. The question to always ask is: “Do you think Brown is telling the whole truth?”

Brown isn’t like Amazon or Walmart, though. Brown admin cares a lot about its “progressive” image, so we expect any “union-busting” to simply take the form of these websites, some working-groups, and some misleading emails.

Why do we have to form a Union to get these improvements?

We recently submitted a petition with over 175 signatures to Brown admin demanding raises for Postdocs and Researchers. What was their response? To form a working-group. “We’re listening, but let us handle it.”

By forming a Union, we get to have a seat at the decision-making table. The grads have shown us how powerful having that seat can be. Grads started organizing a decade ago, and across that time, their wages have increased between 35-50% percent. Columbia, Harvard, and Georgetown all saw similar increases as their grads won contracts. Postdocs and DFFs deserve the same, and a Union is the best path to win both lasting improvements now and the power to fight for better improvements in the future.

Why just Postdocs and DFFs for now?

Conversations about forming a union started among a group of Postdocs and quickly spread to other Postdocs and DFFs. If you’re a non-tenure academic worker at Brown and want to organize a union as well, we think you absolutely should join us. Reach out to us at info@bplounion.org.

What is a contract? Why do we need one?

A contract is a binding document that two or more parties agree to. So in our case, we are negotiating a contract between BPLO, which represents Postdocs and DFFs, and the Brown University administration. 

In short, admin can give us their word that they are going to do something, but a contract forces them to actually do it.

Without a contract, we simply have to rely on Brown’s word that they will follow the policies that they set out for us. With a contract, we get to have a real say in those policies, and if Brown or faculty don’t follow those policies (for example, not paying us on time, asking us to work more than required, discriminating against us based on our race or gender or harassing us in any other way, etc.), we can have a legal process to address and fix it.

Dues… What’s that about?

Union dues are super important! Because our Union is independent from the University (we don’t get money from OPDA!), we need to fund our organization. When we negotiate contracts with Brown admin, we win strong raises. So we take a small percent of that raise, and we pool the money so that we can keep winning better contracts. Our dues help fund professional staff, organizing resources, office space, and legal support, because, to be frank, labor law can be a little complicated.

Dues for our Union are 1.65% of each paycheck, but because we expect to get a substantial raise, your cost of dues will be fully covered by our contract gains!

What will happen if my boss or PI finds out?

Organizing a Union is a federally protected right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It is illegal for your supervisor to retaliate against you in any way for supporting a Union.

Voting for a Union or signing a Union card are completely anonymous acts. But it’s important to say that our power comes from our willingness to take collective action together with our co-workers. The more of us that are public about our support for organizing, the more power we have and the more likely we can force Brown to negotiate better terms in our first contract. We are stronger when we stand together.

How will Brown respond? Will they punish us?

On the contrary! Brown might even give us a pay raise immediately. This is what happened when Undergrads organized TALO in 2023. This is what happened when Grads organized GLO in 2018. And this is exactly what happened when a few Starbucks baristas in Buffalo, NY organized in 2021: Starbucks raised the starting wage for every barista in the country to over $15/hr.

We already know how Brown is going to respond. They’ll probably make a website called “Be Informed,” like this one for the Undergrads and this one for the Grads. They’ll also probably send out misleading e-mail messages to everyone in the Brown community, like the one you may have seen over the summer about GLO contract negotiations. The question to always ask is: “Do you think Brown is telling the whole truth?”

Brown isn’t like Amazon or Walmart, though. Brown admin cares a lot about its “progressive” image, so we expect any “union-busting” to simply take the form of these websites, some working-groups, and some misleading emails.

Won’t raises hurt our PIs?

Currently, PIs pay you what they do because of minimum salaries set by the NIH, but it’s important to know: your PI is not entirely responsible for your salary. There is nothing preventing Brown University from paying you more than the NIH minimum! At Columbia, for example, Postdocs are now paid $70k minimum. At MIT and Harvard, Postdocs are paid $65k minimum. The University is entirely capable of raising salaries and paying the difference to you directly.

For Postdocs on external fellowships, we think it’s a great idea for Brown to supplement your fellowship up to a minimum amount. For example: let’s say that Postdocs are able to negotiate a 70k minimum salary, but you receive funding from the NSF at an NIH minimum of ~$56k. We can negotiate to guarantee that Brown supplements your salary up to that 70k minimum! This is what Postdocs did in their contract at Columbia (see Article V: Compensation, pp. 6-8). You should not be disincentivized for seeking external funding.

I’m a non-citizen/international researcher. Can I be in a Union?

Yes! In the United States, workers rights are much stronger than all other non-citizens rights. So if you work a legal job in the US, you are entitled to every protection that comes along with that. That includes the right to join a union and organize for better working conditions with your co-workers.

What happens if we go on strike? What is the process for strike?

Going on strike is the most serious action a union can take, and because it is such a serious decision, it will absolutely be a democratic decision. The current process for calling a strike involves first a recommendation from leaders from all of our union’s committees. Then, all our entire membership votes on a strike referendum, which requires a ⅔ majority support to pass.

Here’s a really fantastic FAQ on strikes from the Columbia Post-Docs Website.

Will I lose any of the benefits I already have?

No! Winning a union contract is not just about improving wages and working conditions, but also keeping what you already like about what you have. Your current compensation and benefits package will serve as the baseline from which researchers will bargain their contract.

What kinds of things can we win in a contract?

Because our Union is made of and run by Post-Docs and researchers here at Brown, WE all get to decide what it is that we want to bargain for in a contract. If there is something that you feel is important, and there are enough of us all that feel the same way, then we should make that a bargaining priority.

Here are some of the things that our Unionized colleagues at peer institutions have won in their contract negotiations:

• A meaningful wage increase, with guaranteed raises agreed for the duration of the contract
• Protections against overwork and abuse from your supervisor
• The power to file grievances and hold supervisors and the administration accountable to both what is agreed to in the contract, as well as University policies that are often flouted
• Stronger protections against discrimination and harassment, and meaningful accountability for racial and gender equity
• Better support for international scholars, including accommodations for visas and immigration-related issues.

What should I expect during the unionization process?

The unionization process isn’t easy. If it was, every workplace would already have a union. What you can expect in this process is lots of conversation and collaboration from your peers. A co-worker will probably reach out to you asking about what is important to you about working at Brown, how your time here has been, and what issues have been affecting you. It’s important to have open and honest conversations about what you and your co-workers are experiencing, so that you can best fight for one another and negotiate a contract that addresses your issues! On the opposite end, you can expect lots of obstruction and confusion from Brown admin. Do you think Brown wants you to have a union? If admin’s response to past union campaigns is any indication, we think that answer is ‘No.’ You can expect a handful of confusing emails that tell you “Do your own research, be informed!” as well as a website that will probably look something like this or this.

What is the risk of retaliation and how does the union protect me? 

Organizing a Union is a federally protected right under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). It is illegal for your supervisor to retaliate against you in any way for supporting a Union. Voting for a Union or signing a Union card are completely anonymous acts. But it’s important to say that our power comes from our willingness to take collective action together with our co-workers. The more of us that are public about our support for organizing, the more power we have and the more likely we can force Brown to negotiate better terms in our first contract. We are stronger when we stand together.

The Union protects you in two general ways:

• First, you are a part of an organization rooted in collective action. When workers take action together, by signing public petitions, by staging rallies or events or protests, they put pressure on bosses to make the right decision. GLO has had great success fighting for Grads who are being pushed out of their programs, often helping grads secure additional semesters of funding, simply by threatening collective action against department administrators.
• Second, when you have a Union, you have greater legal recourse to fight any kind of workplace problem that is protected by both your contract and federal and/or state labor law.

What if someone is paid by their home country? Can they be part of the union? Would they get those benefits?

We think that all postdocs who work at Brown deserve to be in our union, regardless of who is signing the pay-check. Brown will claim that they are not your employer or boss, but would you be here if it wasn’t for Brown? There are some bureaucratic challenges we may face in this regard, but we will always fight for every postdoc and researcher to be included.