Just outside New Student Convocation on Thursday morning, roughly 20 individuals advocating for USC’s union of postdoctoral scholars passed out flyers and talked to incoming students about the University’s proposed policy regarding harassment reporting in an effort to raise awareness of the union’s negotiations for its first contract.

USC Researchers and Fellows United – United Auto Workers is pushing for a process that doesn’t solely go through USC’s Office of Civil Rights Compliance — formerly known as the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX — and uses an independent arbitrator so they will have “enforceable protections,” according to Priscilla Chan, a member of the union’s bargaining team and a postdoctoral researcher at Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“USC will dictate the entire process, and whatever the outcome is, we have to accept it,” Chan said about the University’s proposal. “What we want is the ability to file grievances so that we can essentially appeal this initial decision and postdocs who are victims of harassment and discrimination have more of a say on the outcome of their situation.”

Chan said USC’s graduate student worker union previously bargained for a similar process that includes an independent arbitrator, but the policy has been more difficult to get for postdocs due to the University classifying graduate workers as students and postdocs as staff.

The University stood by its policy in a statement to the Daily Trojan and wrote that it will continue to negotiate in “good faith” with postdocs. 

“Our existing compliance policies and processes, including those specifically addressing all forms of discrimination or harassment, are best in class,” the statement read. “Those policies are mandated by federal law, were developed in consultation with the country’s leading experts and work to protect all members of our community.”

URFU-UAW chose to rally before convocation to “gain visibility” for their issues as a union representing roughly 400, Chan said. The union formed on June 21, 2024 but has yet to negotiate a contract with USC.

“Postdocs are largely separated from undergrads as well as their parents, so we don’t get as much exposure,” Chan said about why the rally was held near convocation. “Discrimination and harassment are issues that affect all students, universally, and we hope that we can bring more awareness to these issues.”

Among the roughly 20 attendees of Thursday’s rally were members of URFU-UAW as well as supporters from the graduate student and School of Cinematic Arts adjunct faculty unions, as well as the proposed union of most research, training, practitioner and clinical-track faculty at USC.

In a joint Instagram post on Tuesday, the four groups announced a follow-up rally called “Fair USC Now” that will take place on Sept. 3. The post called for fair contracts for all of the unions and the University to recognize the proposed RTPC union, United Faculty – United Auto Workers, which has been waiting for a National Labor Relations Board decision after USC challenged their unionization effort in January. 

At two recent bargaining sessions on Aug. 13 and Aug. 20, URFU-UAW and USC came to two tentative agreements regarding union membership and its relationship with the University, meaning they have now agreed on 20 of 32 articles, according to the union’s bargaining tracker. 

While the union previously expressed frustration with the pace of bargaining, USC made a sweeping “comprehensive proposal” on Aug. 13, leaving the union with 11 articles to respond to while the University has one.

Chan said “there will definitely be more actions” following the Sept. 3 rally, but the union has not decided on what that may look like. She said they will reevaluate the possibility of future actions after the rally and a bargaining session next week.