Joining a local and national movement to safeguard science and protect our rights

By unionizing, we become part of a growing movement of over 100,000 graduate students, postdocs, research associates, and research staff nationwide who have already won meaningful improvements through collective bargaining. We’ll be standing alongside our already unionized graduate student colleagues in NUGW-UE to promote a positive, unified vision for the future of research—both at Northwestern and across the country. Bringing together nearly 5,000 researchers here at Northwestern will strengthen our entire academic community and help create a safer, more secure workplace for everyone.

UE academic workers—at Northwestern and other institutions—have already led efforts to confront federal funding cuts and attacks on international scholars. From organizing rallies and town halls to contacting elected officials and hosting Know Your Rights trainings, we’ve shown what’s possible when we work collectively. By unionizing with UE, we join tens of thousands of academic workers nationwide who are taking action to defend research, protect our rights, and push back against policies that threaten the future of higher education.

When we organize together, we all move forward. Gains won by one group of academic workers often set new standards for others. We’ve already seen this at Northwestern: after graduate workers in NUGW-UE won their first union contract—including a 22% raise to their base stipend—the University raised postdoc salaries shortly afterward. This is just one example of how collective action benefits the entire academic research community. By standing together, we’re not only improving our own working conditions—we’re helping raise the bar for researchers across the country.