Bargaining for Stronger Protections for International Scholars at Caltech
“The burdens all Grad Student Workers (GSWs) and Postdocs face related to our working conditions are compounded by our visa requirements, distance from home, and precarity of our positions. As we bargain our first contract, Caltech GSWs and Postdocs are united and seek changes to our working conditions that will improve our lives and our research…
…An international Postdoc described the uncertainty and stress surrounding visa renewal as “always happening at the last minute” and “feeling like you are begging for your survival,” while noting that there is an even shorter 90-day grace period for people on H1B visas. “
Graduate Student and Postdoc Workers Share Goals for a Better Workplace as Union Bargaining Begins
“As bargaining begins, we hope administrators bargain in good faith, taking the time to listen to their workers’ concerns and earnestly develop solutions. We are optimistic that by coming together as friends and colleagues and staying informed and engaged, graduate student and postdoc workers can negotiate a union contract which sets a new standard in academic work.”
Click to read the endorsement of CGPU by the Graduate Student Council.
“Forming a union is the best way for Caltech’s graduate students to protect the improvements granted by the administration only after the unionization effort surfaced; to fight for stipends and benefits that keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of living; and to address workplace harassment and abuse.”
Caltech's Postdocs and Grad Workers Seek Union Recognition
Click to read the article in Capital & Main.
Click to read the op-ed in Caltech Letters.
“We have done our homework and made the decision that forming a union is necessary to ensure that we and future scholars at Caltech are best positioned to make discoveries that can positively change our world.”
Click to read the op-ed in The California Tech
“Researchers who don’t need to worry about affording rent, accessing healthcare, or being harassed can more effectively expand the boundaries of knowledge and teach the next generation. It is our firm conviction that unionization is in the best interests not only of graduate students and postdocs, but of Caltech and science as a whole.”
Click to read about our Majority rally in The California Tech.
“Along with unionization efforts across the country, Caltech grad students and postdocs gathered this day to illustrate their belief in democratizing their workplaces.”