We, Postdoctoral Scholars across the University of Southern California (USC), are united in our fight for a just and equitable workplace and a contract that meets our needs as workers. As Postdocs, we teach and mentor graduate and undergraduate students, publish innovative research, and produce valuable knowledge that brings in millions of dollars in funding, advances scientific understanding, and has the potential to save lives.
That’s why, in June 2024, Postdocs voted by 93% to form our union, USC Researchers and Fellows United (URFU-UAW) so that USC Postdocs have a collective say in our working conditions. Since then, the Trump Administration’s ongoing attacks on education, research funding, and international scholars have only exacerbated the issues that Postdocs already faced, such as inadequate benefits and job security.
In light of these attacks, it is more important than ever that USC shows that it values research and teaching, and the workers that make them possible. We, the undersigned Postdoctoral Scholars, therefore call on USC to bargain in good faith towards a full Tentative Agreement that includes longer appointments, protections for international scholars, competitive health and childcare benefits, and compensation commensurate with the salaries of our peer institutions, by the end of the Spring semester.
Because we believe in the right of workers to advocate for themselves, we also stand behind our Research, Teaching, Practitioner, and Clinical-Track Faculty coworkers who have chosen to form a union of their own. We demand that the USC Administration respect our coworkers’ right to bargain collectively by refraining from efforts to undermine and delay a fair election in which RTPC Faculty can choose for themselves.