Post

Opinion | Postdocs Aren’t Burger Flippers: Why Unionization Is a Bad Idea Unionization disrupts the bespoke mentor-mentee relationships that are central to the advancement of science. By Evan D. Morris: https://bit.ly/3Sus7fa #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

4 reposts48 likes

“Mentee” isn’t a word you fuckin scab. Mentor is not formed by slapping -or on a Latin-derived root verb for the agent, with ee for the recipient. It’s a Greek proper noun.

Mr Evan D Morris has some issues to work out. Inside Higher Ed probably should have looked for a counterpoint before publishing this.... whatever it is.

Fact: without a union you, as an employee of a labor institution, have no bargaining power or means of influence against your employer, and we have already seen the absolute nightmare working conditions that arise from this (McDonald's, Amazon, Starbucks, etc). Your life is made worse without one.

Yeah, so many logical fallacies. False analogy, false dilemma, false dichotomy ("mentorship" v "unionization"), anecdotes w/little data. + Morris rounded up all the straw men for their beatings & peppered in a little red-baiting & anti-Palestine to boot. This seems more for WSJ than IHE.

burger flippers? really? burger flippers? the only way you could ever closer meet the stereotype of a creepy, out of touch academic is if you visited Epstein's island, too. what a fucking ridiculous take. only abusers and shitty leaders hate unions. fuck off lol

One factor, sure. But let's not pretend that anti-expertise bias isn't also an American cultural issue. You could be the most intersectional progressive ally on the planet but if you worked intellectual labor some folks would still give you shit. Labor valuation cuts both ways.

"burger flipper" is not a job and is a choice of language made to insult the labor movement. Unions benefit millions of U.S. workers across nearly every industry

the actual job title is "short order cook" the unionized ones in big cities make good money - a lot more than a lot of postdocs do - which is a good argument for postdocs unionizing (also why this guy doesn't want them to unionize)

What absolute unconscionable bullshit. Everyone deserves protection from exploitation in the workplace. It protects them, it protects those that are taught by them. And the value of the meteor mentee relationship is then stabilized within the bounds of reasonable and decent.

quite a tired choice to run “burger flippers” in the headline, i assume the writer is in his 60s and does research in the sciences. unions are the least of his worries, definitely less so than the closing boundaries of his mind. i have worked with a couple professors like him unfortunately!

see their real issue with unions is the recalibration of their power over those lower than them in the tower. as someone who has been in an academic union, as well as a manager at a unionized company, i know we only have something to gain as a leader so long as you lead with trust and transparency

as for the publication, you really need to retire the insensitive “burger flippers” label. it’s so unnecessary when you can just say “service industry” or “hospitality”. disappointing to see men in scientific research still using it, their insecurity doesn’t need to be broadcasted

This title is far too long, but my initial thought was... We Are All Burger Flippers: Why Uniquely Positioned Faculty Should Not Assume that all Postdoctoral Workers are in Boutique Appointments

So professors get unlimited employment protection through the tenure system while underpaid, over worked, high level contributors to their research programs should get zero protections because that would somehow impinge the “bespoke mentor-mentee” relationship?

Counterpoint: universities are desperate to keep postdocs from unionizing because currently they get away with paying them starvation wages and imposing miserable conditions, and universities make a huge amount of profit off their cheap labor.

Lmao, this is the same argument union busters pull out everywhere. “Oh, you wouldn’t want to put a layer between you and management! That would disrupt our relationship :( - trust us, it’s best if nothing changes ever.”

Hi, I've been a postdoc in two different countries. Both have unions for postdocs and other academic staff. It's fine. Maybe do a bit of research before writing. And look outside the USA too.

What part of the mentor-mentee relationship is disrupted when "fair wages" and "clearly delinated work expectations" and "meaningful paths to report abuse by managers" are introduced? I feel like most union workplaces have older union workers mentor younger ones all the time

Read this whole thing because I thought “does this guy not know that polytechnics exist?” just to discover a) he does and b) thinks that’s what all universities should be

Here's the thing: none of the places where postdocs have unionized experience a cultural breakdown of the professor/mentee relationship. Because that's not what unionization does. Morris invents a fake threat that is falsifiable from the existing state of affairs...and for what purpose?

I feel like this idea of the mentee/mentor relationship without union protections allows for all sorts of exploitation . Setting limits for certain types of activities through unions , or ensuring better pay, is not going prevent a healthy relationship.

I'm in a union at UC Berkeley and my managers are supportive and not adversarial, so we get to keep the mentor-mentee dynamic. Maybe the problem is knee jerk hostility to unions, not unions.

Okay - I have never considered joining a union in all my years in academia but my god this is the stupidest thing I have heard. I strongly support other people's ability to choose to join a union.

This is bad and you and Morris should feel bad. Of course, Morris is also very busy being a toady for Bibi and the other fascists in Israel, so maybe he didn't have much time to put any thought into this shite.

Wait till we tell Evan that actors and professional athletes are in unions. Well, not all professional athletes. Look at ufc fighters versus mlb players and tell me a union doesn’t help. Lots of creative mentor relationships exist in union workplaces.

Well, this is insulting as all fuck. Personally insulting. Morally insulting. Intellectually insulting. It’s just plain lazy. And laughably wrong.

This reads as “I like to take advantage of those working under me and unions do not allow that.” Mentoring, supervising, or training others are not ways to enrich you. We do these things to enrich the future of the field.