NIH Moves to Derecognize Union of Early-Career Researchers

The National Institutes of Health will no longer recognize a union of early-career researchers who work in its labs, NOTUS reported.

NIH fellows—who typically receive term-limited grants—“are not ‘employees’” and are not “employed in an agency,” read the email the NIH sent to leaders of the NIH Fellows United-UAW union earlier this week. “The NIH/UAW bargaining unit should never have been certified.”

The email went on to say that the NIH “will also file a petition” with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, NOTUS reported, suggesting the FLRA had not yet authorized the union’s decertification.

The union formed in early 2024, following a spate of labor organizing efforts at universities across the country. It represents about 5,000 fellows “at the postbaccalaureate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral career stages who do essential work for NIH’s mission,” according to its website.

Union leaders called the NIH’s move “part of a coordinated effort by the current administration to dismantle federal worker protections” in an email they sent to members. “Our contract is still in effect, and management’s attempt to evade the contract is against the law. We are moving on every available front—legal, political, and most importantly, through the organized power of our membership—to defend our rights.”