On Tuesday afternoon, approximately 100 community members attended a rally on the Main Green in support of postdoctoral researchers and library workers, who say that their unions’ negotiations with the University have stalled.
The demonstration, held by the Student Labor Alliance, featured speakers from campus unions and local activists.
Shortly after the rally began, members of Brown Postdoc Labor Organization walked out of a scheduled bargaining session with the University to join the protest. Organizers told attendees that the planned walkout was in response to what postdocs see as continued unresponsiveness to a proposal they introduced in July 2024 that would increase base salaries by at least 47%.
“Compensation remains a significant focus as we continue productive, good-faith conversations with union representatives directly at the table,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.
Postdoctoral researchers and fellows unionized in January 2024 and have been bargaining for their first contract with the University since last May. A June interim agreement with Brown increased compensation to meet salary minimums recommended by the National Institutes of Health, but organizers say that the University has not responded to their long-term compensation proposal for seven months.
Clark wrote that Brown has “issued counter-proposals on all but three BPLO proposals” and has continued to meet regularly with BPLO organizers since reaching the interim salary agreement last summer, adding that the two parties have “made progress” on more than 20 articles and “are close to tentative agreements on a significant number of articles.”
The USAW-RI unit representing library support staff has been bargaining with the University since late August, just before their previous three-year contract expired on Sept. 30, 2024. At the rally, they also raised issues with the bargaining timeline.
In December, “we had thought that we concluded with bargaining,” Amy Cardone, business agent for USAW-RI, told The Herald, adding that library workers believed they were “at a tentative agreement.”
“Our last thing was to set up ratification, vote, hold meetings and get finalization on language regarding co-pays,” she added.
In November, library staff also protested contract negotiations, expressing frustration with scheduling meetings and language in University counter proposals.
Clark wrote that the University and the bargaining unit have “made significant progress, and we continue to work through key provisions, including on health insurance, retirement benefits and other topics.”
“Our focus remains on respectful, productive and good faith conversations directly with union representatives,” he added. “We deeply value our library employees and we look forward to continued progress at the bargaining table.”
Other unions joined the protest in solidarity and echoed the demands of BPLO and library workers.
“We’re here to show our support for our fellow workers and say that they deserve to be fairly compensated,” Shravya Sompalli ’25, an organizer for the Teaching Assistant Labor Organization, said at the rally.
After the rally, a group of postdocs, library workers and other community members marched along Waterman Street and picketed in front of Faunce Arch.
Emily Feil is a senior staff writer covering staff and student labor. She is a freshman from Long Beach, NY and plans to study economics and English. In her free time, she can be found watching bad TV and reading good books.
