Davis

“I’m a PhD student in the Materials Science & Engineering department at UC Davis, where I’m working on understanding and forecasting solar cell degradation. I support a union for Student Researchers so that we can bargain for vital protections like the TAs and Postdocs. Unionization provides an avenue to protect us all against discrimination, harassment, issues with pay, unsafe working conditions, and unjust firings. Finally, I believe a strong union is especially vital to support BIPOC and international students.” – Meghna Srivastava

“I’m a Student Researcher studying how post prandial microRNA profiles are modulated by dietary lipid intake. Being part of a union will give Student Researchers more power to address our collective concerns around issues like wages, workplace safety, and employment security.” – Gwen Chodur

“I’m a Graduate Student Researcher studying quantum information processing in the UC Davis Department of Physics. Forming a union of Student Researchers will give us the power to  collectively bargain over our wages, working conditions, and protections from harassment and discrimination. We’ll be able to focus on our research instead of worrying about being in an unsafe workplace environment or how to afford housing.” – David Gier

“I’m a Graduate Student Researcher studying the evolution of human-specific neurological features in the Integrative Genetics and Genomics graduate group at UC Davis. I believe that a union for Student Researchers is crucial and necessary. Being part of a union will ensure that we have ways of addressing critical issues, such as harassment and discrimination in the work place, that, currently, are by and large unaddressed due to the lack of any formal procedure to ensure Student Researchers are protected. A union by and for Student Researchers will allow us to make sure our safety, wellbeing and rights are protected. ” – Aarthi Sekar

“I’m a Graduate Student Researcher studying restoration ecology at UC Davis in the Graduate Group in Ecology. I support forming a union because it will provide us with the collective power that we need to create a safe and equitable working environment for all Student Researchers.”- Julea Shaw

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher in Hydrologic Sciences at UC Davis studying collective action in water resources management and governance. I believe in unionizing for the same reason I was drawn to this research – because collective action means greater agency and power over the issues that affect our daily lives, from equity and protection from harassment and discrimination to being paid a salary we can live on. Our research is the foundation of the UC’s reputation as top-tier research universities, and unionizing is our chance to shape it to reflect our values.” – Nusrat Molla

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher developing cryopreservation techniques for the translation of tissue engineering strategies. During this pandemic, where the status quo is disrupted, the lack of representation is hurting us through uncertainty and policies that lack coordination. Forming our union will provide more security to Student Researchers’ education and well-being and provide a pathway for the university to be more accountable and inclusive.” – Dustin Hadley

“I’m a Graduate Student Researcher in the UC Davis Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group working on wheat genetics and breeding. I endorse the Student Researcher Union because student researchers at all levels of the UC System deserve legal protections against discrimination. This includes giving us a voice and avenue to push back against unreasonable demands and harassment by PIs, administrators, staff, and coworkers we work with. Maintaining our professional integrity includes protecting ourselves and our student coworkers from mistreatment.” – Saarah Kuzay

“I am a 3rd year Graduate Student Researcher in Astrophysics at UC Davis. Being an international student here in the US on a visa, I am always cognisant of the precarious position people like me (and also those who are undocumented and/or otherwise vulnerable) can be placed in due to political decisions.  Additionally, as we navigate a world reckoning with the Covid19 pandemic, widespread sexual and gender-based violence, and pervasive institutionalised racism, it is ever more imperative that we ensure security against various kinds of harrassment, discrimination, and unjust practices. I believe that forming a strong SR union would provide us with legitimate protections that we wouldn’t otherwise receive.” – Pratik Gandhi

“I am a PhD student in Electrical Engineering and my research is to develop an x-ray imaging device for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I endorse a Student Researcher union because I want a collective that will support me and other researchers when something happens. To me, having a Student Researcher union means more basic rights, less fear of retaliation from PIs or admin if something gets reported, a voice directly to the UC, and a large body to protect our international students.” – Mary Ann Mort

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher in the UC Davis Integrative Genetics and Genomics graduate group studying the dynamics of the nucleus during cell migration. Unionizing is an opportunity to harness our collective voice to confront discrimination, advocate for livable wages, and address the issues that affect each and all of the diverse individuals that make up the Student Researcher community.” – Ellen Gregory

“I’m a Graduate Student Researcher in the UC Davis Chemistry department working in laboratory astrochemistry. I support this unionization effort because student researchers deserve legal protections and collective bargaining. Currently, Student Researchers have no protections against discrimination or unreasonable demands from PIs. Unionizing will get us the protections needed to have a safer and healthier UC.” – Wes Westerfield

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher in the Immunology graduate group at UC Davis and I support the unionization of Graduate Student Researchers. As a woman in S.T.E.M., it is far too often that I hear about problematic instances of sexism and discrimination by PIs that graduate students feel they can’t honestly speak up about for fear of harming their own degree progress. On top of that, graduate students are frequently underpaid for the incredibly long hours they are expected to work. Unionization would enable us to have the protections we have always deserved and the ability to collectively bargain for fair wages.” – Morgan Poindexter

“I am a PhD Candidate in the UC Davis Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics working in an Ecology and Evolution lab. I support unionizing researchers because I know too many graduate students who are overworked and underpaid. Graduate Student Researchers are not adequately protected against discrimination by PIs. Together we can fight to fix issues that affect our most marginalized community members.” – Sam Fleischer

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher in the Anthropology department at UC Davis and I study disease ecology in gorillas. I strongly support the unionization of student academic researchers, who are the backbone of research efforts at the University of California. Student Researchers do not have formal workplace protections against discrimination and harassment, and these issues often get swept under the rug. Unionization will allow us to collectively bargain for protections and a contract that ensures a more equitable work environment for all.” – Neetha Iyer

“I’m a graduate student in the Applied Math graduate program and I’m interested in working on problems on the interface of maths, physics and ecology. I support the unionization of GSRs as most graduate researchers are at the disposal of their PIs, with little structure and detail into employment aspects like amount of weekly working hours, paid leave days and other protections that should come as part of their employment. This opens up space for exploitation, with little pay and overtime work, unsuitable working conditions etc. And international students are much more prone to this. Unionization would protect GSRs from this and would help them establish healthy employment conditions.” – Appilineni Kushal

“I am a PhD student and Graduate Student Researcher in Computer Science researching computational propaganda. With an increasingly complex world to navigate, it is imperative that we have a collective voice to advocate for ourselves. Institutionalized racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination are challenging to tackle and unionizing would give us the most power to dismantle these structures. A collective voice also brings attention to those facing unreasonable demands from PIs, facing harassment or unequal treatment, or struggling to navigate existing procedures such as Title IX. Visibility of issues and a unified call to action ensures that we hold the UC system accountable and best protect our rights.” – Erica Jurado

“I am a PhD in the Plant Biology department researching the plant cytoskeleton during cell division. I strongly support the Student Researcher Union because I believe in democratic participation in all institutions of our society. Graduate students work very hard for this university and we deserve protections and collective bargaining. Every individual in the UC community should have a venue to safely voice and advocate for one’s needs. I think the union would give GSRs just that power.” – Ximena Anleu Gil

“In my first year alone as a PhD student in Mathematics at UC Davis, I have required the help of the Teaching Assistant union to deal with mistakes made by the UC with regards to my payment on multiple occasions. Now, as a Graduate Student Researcher, I no longer have those same protections. I believe that graduate student researchers deserve and need the same protections as TAs and other unionized workers across the UC system.” – Alex Black

“I am a Graduate Student Researcher studying High Energy Physics at UC Davis. I support unionizing student researchers because we are stronger together. Individually we have little control over things like our workload, how much we are paid, and how we are treated. Together we have the agency to set higher standards for how the UC treats us as workers. Unionizing would allow us to focus less on just trying to survive and more on our research.” –Mark Samuel Abbott