A response to Evan D. Morris, “Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea” in Inside Higher Ed.
By Hugo Plombat
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan (UM), where I study climate science and oceanography. I am also an international researcher from France and a member of the University of Michigan Postdoctoral Researchers Organization (UM-PRO), a new union representing 1,500 postdocs at UM.
Postdocs are full-time employees with PhDs who conduct much of the research that universities are known for. We run experiments, mentor students, write papers and grants, develop new technologies, and produce cutting-edge knowledge. Postdocs develop life-saving medical treatments, study climate change, and make discoveries that shape the future of humanity. Yet for decades, postdocs had no say over the conditions under which we work. That is beginning to change.
In recent years, postdocs at more than a dozen American universities have unionized. The problems that postdocs face — inadequate pay, short-term appointments, and a lack of meaningful protections at work — cannot be solved one lab at a time.
In 2025, a supermajority of UM postdocs formed UM-PRO to improve our livelihoods, to protect our jobs, and to defend the scientific community as a whole. Currently, UM postdocs are bargaining for a first contract. Our demands include a fair pay scale, multi-year appointments, adequate family leave, and protections against funding cuts or changes to immigration policy.
When I talk to my coworkers, I hear stories about financial stress, uncertainty about reappointment, inability to start a family, and difficulty navigating the Trump administration’s whiplash changes to scientific funding and immigration. For an international postdoc, a sudden change in funding or immigration policy can mean thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses, at best, or immediate deportation, at worst. Without a union, postdocs face these difficulties alone. With a union, postdocs can demand more and fight back.
UM postdocs are currently looking to our unionized peers for inspiration. At the University of Washington, postdocs in UAW 4121 won a fair salary scale with annual raises so that no postdoc is vastly underpaid. At Mount Sinai research hospital, postdocs in UAW 4100 won access to subsidized housing so that every postdoc can afford to live where they work. At the University of California, postdocs in UAW 4811 won two-year appointments so that no postdoc is forced to move after only one year of work. At Caltech, postdocs in UAW 2478 won visa fee reimbursement and paid visa leave so that international postdocs can focus on their scientific work instead of their immigration status.
These victories matter because our working conditions are scientific conditions. A postdoc who cannot afford rent or fears losing their visa is not able to do their best research. If we want a scientific community capable of advancing the edge of our understanding of the world and addressing the biggest problems facing our society, like cancer or climate change, then we need to make sure that everyone who does that work can stay in science.
Beyond UM, American science as a whole is under attack. Funding cuts, lay offs, and research bans have stifled nearly every field, from life-saving medical research to climate science, my own specialty.
Unions have the political power to fight back. Just last week, UAW 4811 successfully lobbied for and passed State Bill 895 which will ask California voters to fund a $7.5 billion bond for scientific research at California’s universities. This bill was drafted by unionized academic workers, including postdocs, and will support those same workers, despite the ongoing attacks from the federal government.
This is why I see postdoc unionization as part of a much larger movement. We are not simply fighting for better salaries or better benefits. We are fighting to improve scientific research as a whole, and I am proud to be part of the growing movement of postdocs organizing for change at the University of Michigan and across the country.