Good news! After reaching majority status in early April, STEP-UAW has reached an agreement with the University of California (UC) in recognizing our union. This recognition means that we officially have a union and can begin bargaining with UC. This successful fight for recognition can be attributed to all of you who showed up by signing authorization cards, attending town halls and area meetings, and having one-on-one conversations with your colleagues. A continuous show of mass support will strengthen our position as we move towards negotiating our first contract.
As part of the recognition agreement, STEPs will join the existing group of 7,000 Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) at UC, a group with similar roles and titles at UC. This means STEPs will be benefiting from strong protections RPSPs have achieved in their contract (summary and full text). Next for STEPs will be negotiating with UC over issues that are unique and significant at LBNL. This includes electing our bargaining team (election results coming later today!), providing feedback through the forthcoming bargaining survey, and agreeing on priorities for negotiations. Keep an eye out for an announcement about a townhall in the coming weeks in which to discuss these details.
As we move forward, it is important now more than ever for all STEPs to demonstrate continuous engagement with our newly formed union. Our elected bargaining team will rely on the participation of all STEPs to chart our course. Each event and action is a demonstration to UC about our collective power. The more we participate, the stronger our negotiating power will be. If you have any questions please reply to this email.
In solidarity,
STEP-UAW