Anyone interested in organizing with UAW can sign a union authorization card or get in contact with an organizer by emailing organize@uc-uaw.org. Get in touch today to find out if others in your job classification are already represented or seeking union recognition.

The timeline for organizing depends on how many people in your job classification can talk to colleagues and build majority support for joining UAW. Once a majority of employees in your position sign union authorization cards, your group can seek recognition as part of UAW at UC. Get in touch with a colleague on the organizing committee to learn more about the process

Collective bargaining is a process, recognized and protected by state law, that equalizes the power relationship between employees and their employer. After unionization, we begin that process of collective bargaining to reach a legally binding contract with the UC administration. 

Collective bargaining is a democratic process with many steps. First, we vote to elect a bargaining team of our colleagues. Then, through our participation in town halls, surveys, and discussions, the bargaining team drafts a set of initial bargaining demands. The bargaining team would then negotiate with UC administration and come to a tentative contract agreement. Before that agreement can go into effect, all workers in the unit have a chance to review and vote on whether or not to ratify it. If we vote to ratify the tentative agreement, then it becomes a legally enforceable contract. 

Without collective bargaining, UC has unilateral power to change our working conditions. For example, the UC administration currently decides unilaterally whether to provide non-union employees with annual raises or not, how much we pay for parking and healthcare, what our remote-work options are (if any), etc.

Tens of thousands of UC employees have unionized in recent years, including a wide range of professional staff. Importantly, unionizing, and talking to coworkers about unionizing, is legally protected. It is unlawful for employers to retaliate against employees for union activity. 

Bargaining happens with the UC Office of the President, not individual supervisors, so relationships with supervisors are rarely impacted. In fact, many workers have found that their relationships with supervisors have improved because they no longer have to push their supervisors to advocate to address problems stemming from higher up. For instance, instead of pushing your supervisor to spend months or years advocating for a reclassification for you, you would negotiate collectively with those empowered to make sweeping improvements like guaranteed cost of living adjustments and experience-based raises.

Workers joining UAW will not pay dues until after negotiating and voting to ratify a first contract. Once a contract is ratified, each individual can decide whether or not to become a dues-paying member. Dues provide the resources to enable effective collective bargaining, enforcement of rights, and every aspect of having a strong union. UAW membership dues are 1.44% of gross income. Though dues are optional, a majority of all UC employees who have unionized with UAW have chosen to opt-in to paying dues because they've seen how they are able to advance their rights and improve their livelihoods through being part of a strong union.

Through unionization and collective bargaining, UAW members at UC have won:

• Wage increases that outpace non-union workers at UC. For example, Postdocs won 20-23% salary increases (up to $12,000) in 2023 and 7.2% annual increases for the next 3 years. Academic Researchers at UC won the same percentage of raises in just 4 years that they had seen in the previous 15 years with no union.

• Equitable career advancement opportunities and guaranteed experience-based raises

• Transparent job expectations and protections from overwork

• Strong protections against arbitrary firings and disciplinary action

• 24 days of paid vacation

• Childcare subsidies

• 8 weeks 100% paid parental leave

• Improved dependent healthcare

Among many other improvements.