Postdoctoral union organizing
March 26, 2026
To: All Yale Faculty
[Summary: Local 33-UNITE HERE, which represents Yale’s Graduate Workers, has campaigned to represent Yale’s postdoctoral associates and Yale-employed postdoctoral research fellows under a separate contract. The university has secured the union’s agreement to a framework that would support the university’s research and education missions in any future collective bargaining agreement, should the union win the election.]
Dear Colleagues,
Over the past several months, Local 33-UNITE HERE, the union representing Yale’s Graduate Workers, has campaigned to represent Yale’s postdoctoral associates and Yale-employed postdoctoral research fellows (“postdocs”) under a separate contract. Local 33’s organizing efforts follow those at other institutions of higher education, including many of our peers, where postdoctoral unions have been established. Today, we write with an update on these efforts at Yale. Postdocs will receive information directly from Local 33.
A Private Election Agreement
Last year, Local 33 informed the university that it had collected union authorization cards from a majority of Yale-employed postdoctoral associates and postdoctoral research fellows. Based solely on these cards, the union proposed that the university recognize Local 33 as the postdocs’ exclusive bargaining representative. Yale declined to grant this recognition but suggested it would consider a private election overseen by a neutral third party. A private election process ensures that all eligible postdocs may vote by secret ballot on whether to designate Local 33 as their exclusive bargaining representative.
Through this approach, the university secured Local 33’s agreement to a framework that would support Yale’s research and education missions in any future collective bargaining agreement, should the union win the election. This is an outcome Yale could not have achieved through a traditional National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process.
The framework includes commitments that are important and beneficial to faculty and the work of the university. Among other things, these commitments:
- preserve the university’s core management rights,
- decouple the postdocs’ contract period from that of the Graduate Workers’ contract,
- maintain operational flexibility by ensuring postdoctoral employee schedules are based on the needs of their research project(s),
- retain the university’s flexibility in making postdoc appointments and reappointments, and
- protect university leaders’ and faculty members’ free speech rights consistent with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including the right to speak with individual postdocs about unionization within the bounds of labor law.
Through this framework, Yale and Local 33 have also committed to considering certain terms found in the existing Graduate Worker contract that have been helpful to the university, including grievance procedures, fair treatment workplace accommodations, evaluations, and more, to help streamline any future collective bargaining process with postdoctoral employees.
What Comes Next
For an election to take place, the union must now present to a third-party arbitrator signatures representing more than 50 percent of union-eligible postdocs. This is a greater proportion than what is needed to authorize an NLRB election, which would require the signatures of 30 percent of eligible postdocs.
If Local 33 presents the required number of signatures, Yale will work with union leadership and the arbitrator to facilitate a fair and representative election this spring. If eligible postdocs vote in favor of representation, the university will grant the union recognition and enter into negotiations toward a collective bargaining agreement. If postdocs vote against representation, Yale will not be required to recognize the union, and the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs will continue to handle postdoc employment-related matters.
Guidance and FAQs
Additional details are available in the FAQs below, and we will provide updates as they become available. In the meantime, please review the unionization information sheet available under the “Training and Resources” section of the Local 33 Labor Agreement and Resources webpage, which provides important guidance about legally permissible and prohibited conduct during a union organizing campaign.
Thank you in advance for your continued commitment to supporting Yale’s postdocs and the university’s research and education missions. As our community discusses the possibility of postdoctoral unionization, please continue to promote civil, respectful dialogue that recognizes the contributions of all our community members.
Sincerely,
Scott Strobel
Provost
Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Lynn Cooley
Vice Provost for Postdoctoral Affairs
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
C. N. H. Long Professor of Genetics and Professor of Cell Biology and of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
FAQs
What guidance does the university have for faculty?
Please refer to the unionization information sheet available under the “Training and Resources” section of the Local 33 Labor Agreement and Resources webpage.
What is a Private Election Agreement (PEA)?
A Private Election Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions of an election overseen by a neutral third party other than the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), usually an arbitrator, to determine whether eligible postdocs want to be represented by the union for purposes of collective bargaining. A PEA allows postdocs to submit secret-ballot votes indicating whether they wish to be represented by the union. While the election is not run by the NLRB, the procedures are similar, though the agreement permits the parties to tailor the election to their particular needs, separate from additional requirements imposed by the NLRB. PEAs have been used by a number of universities.
Why did the university agree to consider a private election?
In the absence of a Private Election Agreement, Local 33 would have likely submitted a petition for a union election to the NLRB. This would have left the university and union without an opportunity to discuss, in advance of an election, a framework to align any ultimate agreement with the university’s research and education missions. The university also wanted to ensure that postdocs retained their freedom to vote in a secret ballot election.
How will a private election be authorized?
In accordance with Yale’s agreement with the union, to authorize an election, a majority of the eligible postdoctoral population must sign cards indicating their desire for Local 33 to represent them. This is a higher standard than used in elections facilitated by the NLRB; to authorize those elections, only 30 percent of the population must sign cards.
If the union meets the required card threshold, who will run the election?
If the union meets the required threshold, the election will be run by a neutral, third-party election overseer.
How many votes will be needed for the union to win?
In accordance with Yale’s agreement with the union, the university will grant recognition to Local 33 if a majority of eligible, voting postdocs vote in favor of union representation.
What happens if the union wins the election?
If the union wins the election, the university will recognize Local 33 as the exclusive bargaining representative for eligible postdocs and will negotiate in good faith with the union over the terms of a collective bargaining agreement in line with the framework the parties agreed to.
What happens if the union does not win the election?
If postdocs vote against representation, Yale will not be required to recognize the union, and the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs will continue to handle postdoc employment-related matters.
Who would be eligible for union representation?
The bargaining unit would be limited to postdoctoral associates and postdoctoral research fellows employed (i.e., paid) by Yale. It will not include clinical fellows, whether employed by Yale School of Medicine (YSM) or Yale New Haven Health (YNHH).
What other institutions have postdoctoral bargaining units?
Postdoctoral bargaining units have been organized in many private institutions. Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Mount Sinai, and Weill Cornell Medicine have all entered into collective bargaining agreements with unions representing postdocs, and Albert Einstein, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, and Rockefeller are in the process of negotiating first contracts with unions representing their postdocs.
