PORTLAND, OR - Roughly 250 postdoctoral researchers represented by Oregon AFSCME at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) voted yesterday to authorize a strike if OHSU executives continue to offer scrimpy wages and benefits. The vote comes after nine months of OHSU refusing to offer a contract with fair wages, benefits and improved working conditions. With this vote, if necessary, postdoctoral researchers can deliver a 10-day notice to OHSU, indicating the start date of the strike.
“We are standing together for better pay, better benefits, and better working conditions. Our work helped OHSU get a record $600 million in research grants last year, but they refuse to offer us a penny above a nationally set minimum wage that doesn’t recognize the cost of living in Portland, said Paige Arneson-Wissink a Postdoctoral researcher in the study of pancreatic cancer. “What happens next is up to OHSU. If the executives don’t come to the table with a better offer that shows respect and recognition of the work we do every day, we will strike” continued Arneson-Wissink.
The salary disparities at OHSU are extreme and unfair. President Dr. Danny Jacobs gets paid in two weeks about what a postdoctoral researcher earns in a year and he was just granted a shocking $700,000 in additional retirement benefits. Meanwhile, the postdoctoral researchers who are working on finding cures for cancer and other serious diseases are struggling to keep up with the basic costs of living in one of the most expensive communities in the country. OHSU has so far refused to make a reasonable salary offer above the inadequate minimum wage of $61,008 established by the National Institutes of Health. This minimum does not meet the cost of living in Oregon or industry standards. The University of Washington pays a minimum salary that is $10,000 higher than the minimum offered to OHSU researchers.
"The postdoctoral researchers at OHSU are not just vital to medical advancements—they are the driving force behind research that saves lives and they have the full support of our union,” said Joe Baessler, Executive Director of Oregon AFSCME. “The administration's refusal to meet their reasonable demands for fair wages and decent working conditions is disrespectful and jeopardizes the future of healthcare research. It’s time for OHSU to prioritize its workers, who are the foundation of its success, rather than undermining them.”
Postdocs are fighting for protected time off for visa renewals for international employees, who make up more than 50% of postdoc workers, and for W2’s across the board. Currently, the researchers have a mix of W2s and 1099s compromising their ability to qualify for Paid Leave Oregon. Access to these benefits would improve equity and retention of postdocs from underrepresented gender, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
