Ian L Morgan

News article clipping: Some NIH Scientists Say Ending Union Recognition Undermines Bhattacharya’s Early-Career Push. By Maaisha Osman / March 5, 2026 at 4:09 PM. The National Institutes of Health is ending recognition of a union representing early-career scientists, a move some agency employees say undermines Director Jay Bhattacharya’s stated goal of supporting researchers beginning their scientific careers. In an email sent Monday (March 2) by NIH’s Office of Human Resources and reviewed by Inside Health Policy, the agency said it will no longer recognize NIH Fellows United, which represents more than 5,000 NIH scientists, about 34% of whom are visiting international fellows. NIH Fellows United, part of the United Auto Workers (UAW Local 2750), represents early-career researchers in the National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Program, including postbaccalaureate, predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers, as well as clinical, research and visiting fellows. The group organizes thousands of scientists working across NIH labs as part of the agency’s internal research enterprise.

I agree!

Congrats on the successful vote! It's a big win!

AAUP's Wolfson and AFT's Weingarten on the NIH’s Decision to Strip Fellows of their Right to Collective Bargaining AAUP President Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement in response to the decision by the National Institutes of Health to strip research fellows of their right ...

Shame on the NIH for stripping fellows of collective bargaining rights!

"The fellows at the NIH deserve the same voice, protections, and dignity on the job that academic workers across the country are fighting for every day."

Read @proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social's statement⬇️

Six federal scientists run out by Trump talk about the work left undone | CNN Federal data shows the NIH lost about 4,400 people — more than 20% of its workforce. Scientists say the departures harm the U.S.’ ability to respond to disease outbreaks, develop treatments for chroni...

The number of people employed at the NIH is at its lowest level in at least two decades.

Hear from six scientists run out by Trump and the work they left behind on cancer research, tick-borne diseases, and more.

Me + @k-hought.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org for @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/h...

But, again, we are no strangers to having to fight for our union. To NIH Fellows, new and old, keep supporting our union. If you're not a member yet, join now. If you're already a member, look out for emails on how you can help. We, the members, are what makes our union strong. 13/n

NIH Says It Will No Longer Recognize the Research Fellows’ Union NIH leadership said the union “should never have been certified,” in an email to the union’s leadership.

Now, the NIH seeks to relitigate a settled matter and no longer recognize our union, claiming that "we never should have been certified in the first place." In the words of Douglas Adam's, this is "like a man saying 'And another thing...' twenty minutes after admitting he’d lost the argument." 12/n

NIH Leadership Is Failing Early Career Researchers Halted training programs, funding chaos, and hiring freezes jeopardize advancement options for early career researchers.

Over the past year, we have been enforcing our CBA amidst unprecedented attacks by the new administration. We have sought to work with the NIH amicably, but have been met with animosity. 11/n

The CBA was another historic win that established formal rights and protections for NIH fellows, including provisions on pay, working conditions, grievance procedures, health and safety, and protections against harassment. 10/n

Newly formed union accuses NIH of slow-walking bargaining negotiations NIH Fellows United and agency management are still trying to reach a tentative agreement on pay, discipline and anti-harassment protections before potentially voting on a contract.

Despite the NIH slow-walking negotiations, we finally reached a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was finalized and went into effect on December 20th, 2024, exactly one month before the new administration took over. 9/n

After being certified, the NIH Fellows bargaining committee began collective bargaining negotiations with the NIH in May 2024. 8/n

This was a historic win. The NIH Fellows Union became the largest union of federal employees to form in more than a decade, and the first union of Fellows ever at a federal research facility. 7/n

Researchers at National Institutes of Health Vote to Unionize by Nearly 98% - UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America In a historic outcome, early-career researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, have voted by nearly 98% to form a union, NIH Fellows United-UAW.

On December 6, 2023, NIH Fellows overwhelmingly voted to form a union by nearly 98%, and the union was officially recognized by the FLRA on December 15th, 2023. 6/n

NIH Fellows Win Recognition as Workers With the Right to Join a Union One day after a Nation story reported claims that National Institute Fellows were "trainees" not "workers," the NIH changed its mind.

But, after public pressure, the NIH withdrew its claim, and the FLRA affirmed the union's legal standing. 5/n

NIH researchers say agency seeks to block unionization effort The agency is arguing that postdocs and graduate students aren’t employees, according to union organizers

The NIH sought to block the unionization process, claiming that early career researchers are trainees and not employees, despite similar cases adjudicated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), FLRA’s sibling agency that oversees the certification of unions by private sector employees. 4/n

NIH Scientists Want a Union Faced with an organizing campaign by the United Auto Workers, the Biden administration is claiming that fellows at the National Institutes of Health—the people who do most of the actual research—aren'...

On June 1st, 2023, NIH Fellows submitted union authorization cards to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), which oversees the unionization process, including certifying petitions, overseeing elections, and ensuring compliance with the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. 3/n

The NIH Fellows United is part of UAW international (UAW2750) and represents early career researchers in the NIH’s Intramural Research Program (IRP), including postbaccalaureate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral researchers, as well as Clinical Fellows, Research Fellows, and Visiting Fellows. 2/n

NIH Says It Will No Longer Recognize the Research Fellows’ Union NIH leadership said the union “should never have been certified,” in an email to the union’s leadership.

NIH leadership wants to strip worker's rights from the majority of scientists on its campuses.

But, the NIH does not get to say whether we are a union or not. We do, and we are no strangers to having to fight for our union. Time for a short history lesson. 1/n

Disclaimer: all views are my own.

Screenshot of the NIH website page for the NIH fellows CBA, showing the page has been deleted. Superimposed over this is the “there is so war in ba sing se” woman

NIH HR deleted our CBA off the website. Luckily for us, even if the agency says there is no CBA in ba sing se, the union still exists.

Thanks for supporting the organizations that are doing the work. I just saw this story and am so glad that @ncaaup.bsky.social was able to fight it bsky.app/profile/aaup...

Shoutout to @27unihted.bsky.social for all their advocacy on the SBIR/STTR program.

Opinion | I Grew Up Unvaccinated. Now I’m an Immunologist.

Great essay from @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social.

Liz’s story resonates with me. I also grew up unvaccinated.

I know my mom made the choice not to vaccinate me and my sisters out of love, misguided as it was.

I got myself vaccinated when I turned 18.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/o...

Respectfully, senior scientists need to stop saying what worked for me will work for you. It is a bad take.

I'm gearing up for a resubmission too! Good luck! You got this!

This is why it's not enough for Congress to just appropriate funds to scientific agencies. How the funds are or are not spent and when they are spent needs to be enforced.

The administration is playing games with our taxpayer dollars, when they should be going towards scientific innovation.

I sat down with Dr. Jenna Norton, an NIH employee & my guest at the People’s State of the Union. She was put on leave by the Trump Admin after speaking truth to power.

Dr. Norton told me Trump’s actions risked creating a super-bug that would endanger us all.

The good ol' write drunk, edit sober technique.

If you're at #bps2026 and like single-molecule methods, topoisomerases, or DNA topology, check out some of the cool talks and posters from the Neuman Lab today and tomorrow linktr.ee/neuman.lab.

This is the first I'm hearing of Skype a scientist! So cool!

I hope no one holds squidgate against the innocent squids 🦑

In addition to the great science, I'm enjoying the views from the conference center at #bps2026.

Adding that there are many folks inside NIH whose names you will probably never know who are quietly doing tremendous work that is saving a lot of science.

But they are not keeping their heads down either. They are just taking quieter risks.