Posts tagged Brown University Postdoc Labor Organization
Graduate program shifts fellowship classifications, sparking contention in historic unionization effort
September 29, 2026 // The doctoral program in behavioral and social health sciences previously designated many first-year students as fellows — a nonunionized class that does not have access to the same grievance processes that unionized graduate employees have. Under current University policy, fellows are not considered employees, since the University views their funding as not contingent on their working for Brown. As a result, they are not covered by GLO’s main contract. But the SPH officials determined that their fellows had similar work requirements to other students in the BSHS program — including research assistants — who are included in the Graduate Labor Organization’s contract, BHSS program director Kate Carey said.
Brown’s graduate union wants to make history. Labor experts say the journey may be strenuous.
April 23, 2026 // The union has not yet brought the case to the state labor board. But in an interview with The Herald, Michael Ziegler GS, the president of GLO’s parent group RIFT-AFT Local 6516, said the union was prepared to do so if they feel it is needed. Fellows must be considered employees by law in order to unionize, Herbert explained. “The fundamental question is whether or not the employer pays specifically for work being performed and has control over that work.”
Labor Watch: St. John’s Axes Unions, CSU Strike Pays Off
March 5, 2026 // St. John’s is the second institution to use a religious exemption to shutter its union this academic year; in the fall, the Loyola Marymount University Board of Trustees announced it would no longer recognize its non-tenure-track faculty union and cease bargaining.