We are a group of Science, Technology, and Engineering Professionals at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (STEP-UAW) who seek to unionize in order to improve our employment experience as well as the research mission at LBNL and the University of California. We are responsible for designing and maintaining critical lab infrastructure including software and systems development, engineering, IT support, safety and environmental health, and facilities management. Our work is a critical part of what keeps the lab running and producing ground-breaking science. Our work not only benefits the Lab, but also the UC system and the wider California economy.

By coming together to form a union, STEPs are democratizing our workplace. Forming a union will enable STEPs to have more rights and power to make improvements at work, guarantee LBNL and/or UC policies that we want to keep, and increase transparency as to the terms and conditions of our employment. More broadly, forming a union as part of the UAW means joining the tens of thousands of researchers, programmers, engineers and other higher education employees who are already UAW members. Like the members of other academic unions across the US, STEPs can increase political power to impact policy and funding decisions on both the state and federal governmental levels.

There are many job titles that fall under the umbrella of Science, Technology, and Engineering Professionals at LBNL, including:

Business Systems Analyst 

Computer Systems Engineer

Construction Safety Specialist

Critical Facilities Engineering Associate

Data Scientist

Desktop Systems Specialist

EH&S Engineer Associate

Electronics Engineer

Electronics Engineering Associate

Engineering Technical Associate

Environmental Protection Specialist

Facilities Electrical Engineer

Facilities Energy Mgmt Engineer

Facilities Mechanical Engineer

Facilities Structural Engineer

Facilities Architect

Facilities Civil Engineer

Fire Protection Engineering Associate

Help Desk Specialist

IC Design Engineer

Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical Engr Associate

Occupational Safety Specialist

Plant/Facilities Engineering Associate

Radiation Protection Specialist

Scientific Engineer

Scientific Engineering Associate

Software Developer

Senior EH&S Professional

Systems Administrator

Waste Management Professional

Web Content Administrator

Web Developer

This list is not exhaustive. There are additional titles who support the engineering and research needs at the root of LBNL and UC’s mission. There are also business titles or common use titles that fall within these official job titles. Some of us are on short-term contracts while others are in career positions. Some are hourly and others are salaried.

If you have questions about where you fit, please contact us! 

The determination of exclusion based on supervisory status isn’t made unilaterally by LBNL or UC leadership, it’s ultimately made by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). If and when our union is recognized by PERB, UC will identify STEPs who they believe are supervisors/managers as defined by state labor law and share that list with our Union. If STEPs don’t agree with UC’s claims, the Public Employment Relations Board has final say over whether certain employees should be excluded from the bargaining unit. If you are indeed flagged by UC as a potential supervisor/manager after our Union is recognized, you should expect to get a survey about your work duties so this can be resolved appropriately.

Many STEPs perform duties in relation to other employees, such as providing guidance or direction in work assignments, approving schedules, providing trainings, etc that would not warrant exclusion from the bargaining unit as supervisors based on the applicable legal standard. State labor law only precludes workers from being in the same bargaining unit as other employees if they have independent authority to take actions such as hiring, firing, transferring, disciplining, adjusting grievances, or providing salary increases to multiple employees. Under HEERA (the California law that governs labor relations for public higher education employees), individuals are generally included in the bargaining unit if these supervisory duties are infrequent or clerical, if they have substantially similar job duties as their subordinates, or if they otherwise have sufficient shared interests with other workers in the bargaining unit.

The most prominent issues we’ve heard from LBNL STEPs are:

• Salaries not keeping up with the cost of living in the Bay Area
• Unclear or nonexistent promotion policies or advancement tracks
• Lack of protections from overwork, inadequate vacation time compared to peers
• Unfair and opaque layoff, discipline and dismissal actions and policies
• A lack of recognition for the work we contribute
• A lack of say in our workplace, our classifications, and working conditions
• Short-term positions for contractors that do not offer economic security

Recently, cuts to funding, changes to visa policies, and attacks on DEI and vulnerable campus communities stemming from the Trump administration have created additional urgency in our efforts. Now more than ever we need real bargaining power and a collective democratic process for making decisions about our lives and our futures.

There are 7,500 Research and Public Service Professionals—including engineers, programmers, and analysts—across the UC system who recently formed a union as part of UAW. Many of us do similar work to our colleagues in these titles, but do not have the same rights and power over our working conditions. Tens of thousands more workers across UC and LBNL belong to UAW and other unions, including nearly 1,000 LBNL graduate researchers, postdocs, and project scientists. Research Scientists at LBNL also just submitted a petition to bargain their first contract as part of UAW. You can see a full list of UC/LBNL unions here: https://qa2.ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/labor/bargaining-units/ 

• Wage increases that outpace non-union workers at LBNL and UC. For example, LBNL Postdocs won 20-23% salary increases in 2022 and 7.2% annual increases for the next 3 years. The average LBNL Project Scientist is seeing a 40% salary increase over 5 years, compared to less than the 15% they were expecting over the same period before their first contract took effect in 2023.
• Equitable career advancement opportunities
• 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
• 100% paid parental leave (8 weeks minimum)
• Improved dependent healthcare
• Among many other improvements

Forming a union with collective bargaining rights is the only way to have the power to negotiate with the UC Administration as equals and reach a legally binding contract. While we may work at LBNL, UC ultimately signs our paychecks and, without a union, unilaterally sets the terms and conditions of our employment. This effort began when STEPs started talking together about how to improve their working conditions in the face of layoffs, funding cuts, reductions in project scope, and changes to visa policies that we are currently experiencing. Currently, the UC administration has exclusive control over our pay, benefits, and workplace rights.

Many of us have high work loads, uncertainty about our future employment, pay that does not keep pace with the cost of living, lack of career advancement opportunities, and lack of recognition. This makes many of our positions at LBNL unsustainable in the long-term. We currently have no way to preserve the things we like about our jobs, because UC can change them at any time, potentially without the input of any LBNL employee no matter how senior. For example, the UC recently unilaterally decided to increase the cost of our healthcare where they could not do so with many of our unionized colleagues. In response to recent threats from the federal government, UC administration has responded in various ways including through pushing reductions in force without STEPs having an equal say. With a union, we gain the right to collectively bargain with UC and a greater voice in our workplace.

Collective bargaining is a process, recognized and protected by state law, that equalizes the power relationship between employees and their employer. It is a worker-led, democratic process where all STEPs work together to determine our bargaining agenda and win a strong contract. First, we vote to elect a bargaining team of our colleagues. Then, by collecting feedback through surveys, meetings, etc we will draft and democratically adopt a set of initial bargaining demands. The bargaining team then begins negotiating with UC administration. During bargaining STEPs will need to be involved in various ways: giving feedback, deciding priorities, and above all taking action to ensure efficient negotiations that make meaningful improvements. Eventually the bargaining team will reach a tentative agreement with UC, after which, all STEPs will 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 STEPs with annual raises or not, how much we pay for parking and healthcare, what our remote-work options are (if any), etc.

Dues are an important resource that provide workers with financial resources independent of their employer and which they democratically decide how to use. However, STEPs will not pay dues until after negotiating and voting to ratify our first contract. Once a contract is ratified, STEPs can become members of UAW and pay dues to enable effective collective bargaining, enforce our contract, protect science for the public interest, and more. UAW membership dues are 1.44% of gross income and the dues rate is democratically set by UAW members.

While UAW began as an auto worker union, there are now over 130,000 higher ed workers in UAW, making UAW the largest academic worker union in the country. Nearly half of those workers are here at UC and include a wide variety of job titles. Additionally, Graduate Researchers, Postdocs, Project Scientists, and soon Research Scientists at LBNL are part of UAW, already making UAW by far the largest union at LBNL. By joining with our Researcher colleagues as part of UAW, we would double the UAW presence at LBNL giving us all substantial power to negotiate fair contracts.

UAW has historically been one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America. By joining this movement, Scientific, Technology, and Engineering Professionals will also gain political power to impact policy and funding decisions on the local, state, and federal levels.

First and foremost, we talk with our fellow STEPs to learn about our shared interests and build majority support for forming a union. Here is a summary of the steps to forming a union:

1. STEPs form a diverse organizing committee to gather information and make a plan to form a union.
2. A majority of STEPs sign authorization cards indicating they would like to form a union and  join UAW.
3. STEPs deliver the signed cards to the California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). PERB counts the cards to verify that they have been signed by a majority of STEPs.
4. After PERB counts the cards, our union can be made official! At this point we can begin bargaining with the UC administration.
5. STEPs elect bargaining representatives from amongst our peers.
6. STEPs fill out comprehensive bargaining surveys, hold discussions, request information from UC administration, and gather feedback.
7. STEPs draft and democratically approve initial bargaining demands.
8. The bargaining committee negotiates as equals with UC administration and provides regular updates to all STEPs. 
9. Once a tentative agreement is reached at the bargaining table for the first collective bargaining agreement, all STEPs vote on whether or not to ratify that agreement.

Note alternatively, in parts 2 – 4, if over 30% of STEPs sign cards but less than 50% + 1, PERB may call for an election. If a majority of those voting vote “yes” to forming a union, then our union will be official and we can begin bargaining with UC.

Forming a union can provide political and social benefits. The power of collective action can result in better public policy—an organized group can influence elections and legislation that benefit STEPs and broader society. For example, workers in UC-UAW have secured benefits for international workers and increased funding for research at the federal level. Additionally, workers use their union for socializing, community building, and professional development. By joining this movement, STEPs can have more say in how and what we do to improve California and its system of higher education.

The first Trump administration attempted to slash federal research funding in every budget it submitted to Congress. In response, UAW researchers from UC, including many on visas, successfully rallied and lobbied to keep funding at fair levels. This year, UAW has joined multiple lawsuits filed by State Attorneys General and the ACLU to restore Federal research funding. On April 4th, a Massachusetts judge issued permanent injunctions halting some of the Trump administration’s attempts to freeze or cut funding.

Learn more about our movement here

Currently, UC administration determines our pay rates and benefits unilaterally, and those rates – as well as projected increases – are factored into grant proposals to agencies like DOE, NIH, NSF, etc. With collective bargaining, we would negotiate as equals with UC for improvements to our pay rates which would continue to be factored into future grant proposals and the Master Agreement between UC and DOE. In many cases where grants don’t cover salary guarantees under union contracts, UC is on the hook for finding other available funds to supplement wages. Student Researchers, Postdocs and other Researchers at LBNL and UC and thousands of other grant-funded employees at universities around the country have negotiated guaranteed annual increases to their pay rates through collective bargaining, while the headcount of unionized researchers at each of these campuses has continued to rise.

There is no evidence of collective bargaining having these effects. STEPs and UC both have to agree on a contract and neither party would want that result. Collective bargaining simply means we can negotiate as equals in order to hold UC more accountable to do the best it can do. As the largest employer in California with a $43 billion annual budget and $180 billion in resources on-hand, there are plenty of ways the administration can offer a fair wage to retain those of us who support and/or carry out its research mission.

Like other large employers, UC has generally opposed efforts to unionize amongst its employees. That said, tens of thousands of UC/LBNL employees have unionized in recent years, including Project Scientists, Specialists, Programmers, Analysts, Engineers, and Student Researchers. Importantly, unionizing, and talking to coworkers about unionizing, is legally protected.

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, STEPs would negotiate collectively with those empowered to make sweeping improvements like guaranteed cost of living adjustments and experienced-based raises.

While there are many ways for the STEPs to engage with the University, forming a union means that UC will be required to negotiate a contract with us as equals. Unionizing also protects our right to take collective action free from retaliation, and, once we have a contract in place, will give us a mechanism to enforce the rights and benefits we bargain for in our contract. Many STEPs have found that other efforts to make LBNL/UC a more equitable workplace have been under-resourced or not taken seriously by unilateral decision-makers. By unionizing, STEPs would have the power to more effectively implement improvements.

Currently there are no guaranteed experience based raises and many STEPs find it difficult to be reclassified or advance in our careers. With a union, STEPs are able to bargain for additional experienced based raises (steps) within our job classifications as well as guaranteed regular reviews that include a promotion decision. Unionized workers at LBNL have been able to win guaranteed annual raises by salary increase, annual experience based raises by “step”, and possible merit raises every 2-3 years through guaranteed reviews.

How quickly our union is formed depends on how many STEPs are involved with talking to fellow STEPs across LBNL. The more workers are outreaching to colleagues and inviting them into this effort, the sooner we will build the majority needed to form a strong union.

Since STEPs will democratically decide what we choose to negotiate for, our proposals can reflect the various needs and interests of different workers within our bargaining unit. Union contracts can, and often do, include different terms and conditions for different groupings of workers based on whatever the bargaining unit voted to demand from the employer. For example, recent contracts negotiated by other UAW academic unions have emphasized protections against excessive workload or “scope creep” while allowing flexibility to allow for different work and funding arrangements to address various needs. 

International workers have the same rights to participate in their union as domestic workers, regardless of visa status. Tens of thousands of University of California employees – including many who are not U.S. citizens – have voted to unionize or signed union authorization cards over the past few decades without adverse impacts on their visa status.

In fact, international workers hold many of the leadership positions in UAW 4811 at UC and other UAW unions. Through our unions, international workers have negotiated additional rights and protections we otherwise would not have, including protections against discrimination of any kind and unjust discipline that could impact our visa status. The more of us who participate in collective action, the more power we’ll have to win a strong contract.

No international worker has been denied entry to the United States or had their visa interfered with for joining or organizing a union. State Department guidance is clear that union activity is protected even for international workers. Additionally, UAW members, many of whom are international workers themselves, have repeatedly come together to defend international worker rights against actions by the federal government.

UAW represents over 130,000 workers in higher education, including tens of thousands of international researchers. This gives international researchers a powerful voice in setting national policy, which we used to oppose attacks on immigrants during the first Trump administration.

In 2017, the UAW international filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court challenging the Trump administration’s travel ban, as unionized researchers, including international scholars, rallied at airports around California to protest the ban. In 2018, international workers in California and Washington worked with Congressional Representatives Judy Chu and Pramila Jayapal on a Dear Colleague letter demanding that Secretary of State Pompeo restore the validity period of Chinese international students’ entry visas from 12 months back to 60 months. In 2020, UAW academic workers mobilized against a proposed rule by ICE to shorten visa stays for international scholars; thousands of public comments were submitted, including by the President of the UAW International.

International workers have the same free speech rights as domestic workers. It is against the law for any worker in the United States, international or domestic, to face legal repercussions for exercising free speech. While the Trump administration has attempted to circumvent immigrants’ right to free speech in a few cases, previous attempts to do so have never held up in court.

At UC and LBNL, researchers in UAW 4811 must be compensated for any loss of pay due to issues with work authorization processing regardless of the type of visas. Our colleagues already unionized with UAW are guaranteed leave to attend immigration hearings, afforded a process to seek re-employment if they temporarily lose work authorization, and have the option to bargain additional protections with UC if immigration laws change. UC must also notify our union if they learn of an immigration investigation being conducted against any Student Researcher or Postdoc.

Yes. Unionized LBNL and UC employees have defeated Trump’s attacks before and we can do it again. There were attempts by LBNL to fire International Postdocs in response to policy changes impacting international workers during both Trump terms that were successfully halted through collective union action. By working together through our union, workers have a strong political voice to lobby legislators and shape policy, as well as the ability to mount legal challenges to unlawful actions by the administration. In order for these efforts to succeed, it is critical that as many workers as possible demonstrate our support for research funding and fair immigration policy, by joining as union members and coming together for peaceful rallies such as the Kill the Cuts day of action that took place on April 8th.

Regardless of your visa, residency, or family status, once in the US you have the same due process rights as a domestic worker, which means you cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without the chance to defend yourself in fair legal proceedings. Additionally, you have the right to a lawyer to assist you and the right to remain silent if questioned by law enforcement.