Background and Issues
This effort began when research and public service professionals across UC started talking together about how to improve our working conditions. After research and discussion, we launched this effort to join UAW, the union that currently represents 53,000 Professional Staff, Postdocs, Academic Researchers, and Academic Student Employees at the University of California. UAW has historically been one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America. Workers in UAW at UC have negotiated for sweeping improvements to their workplaces that touch on a wide variety of issues that also affect RPSPs. To read more about those improvements, you can visit:
- Postdocs: Before/After Unionization Chart
- Academic Researchers: Before/After Unionization Chart
- Academic Student Employees: Contract Highlights
Through hundreds of conversations between coworkers, research and public service professionals (RPSPs) have noticed many similarities in the issues we face across campuses and job titles. RPSP-UAW has conducted a climate survey and hosted several town halls to identify areas of our workplace that could be improved. RPSPs are taking this bargaining survey to continue to collectively shape our bargaining priorities once we gain a seat at the table with UC.
Below are some of the common issues experienced by RPSPs across all UC campuses that have already been identified.
Fair Compensation
Over the last ten years, wage increases for all UC staff members who are part of unions have dramatically outpaced raises for non-union staff. A recent report by the Council of UC Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) showed that staff who are not in unions have come in last place for the total increase in income. As shown in the graph, non-union staff have fallen 10-37% behind!
According to an 2023 workplace survey, 50% of RPSPs surveyed didn’t see their pay and benefits reflect the value of their contributions or even allow them to imagine a comfortable future for themself and their family. On top of that, 56% of RPSPs surveyed had considered leaving their positions at UC because of better opportunities elsewhere.
I am currently working as a Research Analyst and Project Manager at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, a position I’ve held for 5 years. I have faced egregious discrimination from my former management team, and it took over a year for me to be reassigned to a new supervisor. A grievance procedure codified in a union contract could have ensured that a) the discrimination not be tolerated and b) I be reassigned far sooner. I have also been dealing with a misclassification and unpaid wage issue for nearly 2 years now, in which I am not paid fairly for the work I provide.
A union contract would not only offer the grievance procedure to ensure I will be promptly classified correctly, it would also provide clear compensation guidelines and support me in getting the correct information in a timely manner. I look forward to having a union where there is a sense of support among colleagues, especially given how isolating workplace harm can feel.
Job security
Whether you work in a contract or career position, forming a union means immediately gaining the ability to negotiate over layoffs and just cause protections for discipline and dismissal. This is especially important now, as threats from the federal government create uncertainty and non-union employees lack a seat at the bargaining table.
By unionizing, UAW workers have won conversion of positions from contract to career, strong protections against unjust termination, and layoff protections such as increased notice and preferential rehire.
Clear and equitable pathways for advancement and career development
Without a union, promotion and reclassification processes are often opaque and inequitable, leading to unnecessarily high turnover among staff at UC. It is not uncommon for RPSPs to be denied promotions after years of performing work above their pay grade on the promise that it will be rewarded eventually. Meanwhile, contracts won by UAW-represented employees ensure that pay increases with experience and additional responsibility always means additional compensation. Additionally, unionized workers have won increased support for training and professional development.
Investing in our skills and advancement benefits both employees and the institution; now is our opportunity to guarantee this win-win in a union contract.
Access to Remote and Hybrid Work Arrangements
There is an ongoing effort on many UC campuses to curtail or end remote work despite overwhelming staff opposition and ample data demonstrating the effectiveness of our teleworkforce. The 93% of us who have a hybrid or remote arrangement feel a strong need to guarantee a fair process for securing these arrangements. The high cost of living near UC campuses has led many RPSPs to live far from our places of work, and without the ability to negotiate over hybrid and remote work, many of us could be forced out of our jobs as a result of return to office mandates.
Student Services and Advising Professionals who recently unionized with UAW were able to get UC to rescind their return to office mandates during collective bargaining. These colleagues are currently negotiating for improved processes for accessing and maintaining remote and hybrid work, and RPSPs can do the same once we form our union.
Joining with colleagues in UAW is not merely a step towards improving our individual lives, it’s a stride towards elevating the entire University of California system to meet and set higher standards of employee wellbeing and institutional excellence.
Protections from overwork
(Work-Life balance)
Excessive working hours and overwork issues are widespread among RPSPs. We often have little control over our schedules and insufficient staffing to meet deadlines without working excessive hoursBecause we lack workload protections, we may find ourselves working routinely into the night hours or on weekends, without additional compensation.
Just like our fellow unionized colleagues at UC, RPSPs need the ability to set firm boundaries regarding the scope of our jobs and clear expectations that we are not “always on” and fully accessible.
Leave and Paid Time Off
Our Paid Time Off and Paid Leave as RPSPs lags far behind unionized colleagues doing similar work. Many of us have to spend the minimal vacation days we do have during curtailment in order to not lose money at the end of the year. RPSPs have far less vacation than the 24 days of PTO guaranteed annually in UAW contracts.
In 2022, workers in UAW expanded the paid family leave benefits which UC applied to all staff. Right now, another unit of UAW workers are negotiating to improve these benefits even further, and by unionizing, RPSPs can now join them in that effort.
Healthcare Benefits
Without healthcare benefits guaranteed in a contract, RPSPs are often alarmed at the annual increases in premiums that often offset any wage increases we may or may not receive. Forming a union with UAW allows us to follow in the footsteps of our colleagues who won:
- Caps on premium increases
- Reimbursements to help offset rising premiums
- Improved coverage for employees and dependents
For example, this plan that Postdocs won after unionizing with UAW is a significant achievement that we could choose to build upon.
Retirement Benefits
The age of retirement for UC employees varies dramatically based on their ability to bargain collectively for improved benefits. Through collective bargaining, unionized workers at UC have greatly expanded access to the pension.
RPSPs join thousands of fellow UAW-represented employees that are negotiating for a contract that allows them to retire earlier with greater financial security.
I chose to work at UCLA six years ago because of its reputation as a public university that provides quality jobs while valuing rigorous research in pursuit of improving the wellbeing of communities in California and around the world. I have noticed that non-union analysts at UC often struggle with overwork, unclear paths for career advancement and the high cost of living in Los Angeles. This contrasts with my previous experience as a unionized student researcher and graduate student at another university, where I had fair working conditions, protections against overwork and regular pay raises. I support forming a union with fellow analysts across UC because it will facilitate improvements in our pay, benefits, and job security, and would improve the functioning of UC as a premier institution of higher learning and research.
I moved back to Santa Cruz to raise a family where I grew up. Getting a job at UCSC is a dream come true – but I’m not sure how my husband (who also works on campus) and I can make ends meet as our family grows. His union seems to work hard on his behalf – I don’t see why my position wouldn’t benefit from one as well. I hope a union can help advocate for fair pay and resources for other young families like ours, where paying for childcare is almost impossible in an area with outlandish rent prices. I want my family to thrive where I thrived as a child, and I need to feel like there is hope for that in the future while working in the UC system.