The UAW represents more than 100,000 academic workers across the United States, including more graduate student employees and postdocs than any other union . In the last eight years alone over 40,000 academic workers around the country have chosen to become part of the UAW, nearly 10,000 of them from the New York City area.

See more below about UAW success helping academic workers negotiate concrete improvements to wages, benefits and workplace rights.

The UAW has particular experience with helping to negotiate and enforce strong postdoc contracts. Recently, graduate workers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute voted 95% in favor of joining the UAW, and postdocs at Mt Sinai voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW with 89.5% support and a majority of the unit participating.  Additionally, Student workers at Harvard University voted to accept their contract in November of 2021 which included 5% retroactive raises, 4% raises for this year and next year, and a minimum hourly rate of $21 per hour by 2023, not to mention the millions of dollars in various funds to help offset costs for student workers to help with medical bills, childcare costs, visa legal costs and others.

Last year, the University of California recognized Student Researchers United-UAW as representative for more than 17,000 workers, after a supermajority of UC student researchers signed cards selecting SRU-UAW as their union. In NYC, 3,000 Columbia graduate student employees voted by an overwhelming 72% to join the UAW and recently approved their first union contract by 97.6%.  In addition to drawing on the UAW’s wide experience bargaining contracts with academic administrations, we can exercise a stronger political voice through the UAW.  With active members at more than 45 major campuses across the US, the UAW has become a strong advocate on policy issues that matter to us as academics, such as federal support for science funding and enhancing the rights of international research scientists.

Here are some of the gains that have been made at other UAW higher education institutions:

University of California Academic Student Employees UAW Local 2865

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Harvard University Student Workers HGSU-UAW Local 5118

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University of Washington Academic Student Employees UAW Local 4121

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Graduate Employees at NYU GSOC-UAW Local 2110

Read the Contract

GEU-UAW Local 6950 at UConn

See the Contract

Academic Student Workers at The New School (SENS-UAW Local 7902)

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University of California Postdoctoral Researchers UAW Local 5810

See the Contract

University of Washington Postdoctoral Researchers UAW Local 4121

See the Contract

NYU Adjunct Faculty Contract Highlights

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UAW Local 4121

UAW Local 5810

Download contract infosheet (pdf) 
Updated June 2017