On July 28, STEPs joined a contract that sets minimum across-the-board raises not tied to performance evaluations, term-to-career conversions, first-of-its-kind protections against unilateral changes to our work modes, and many other improvements to our pay and working conditions. However, we have a lot of work ahead to enforce our new contract and prepare for accretion bargaining.
Work modes are being changed unilaterally; eligible term workers closing in on the end of their contracts have not yet been converted to career status; and management is already denying the 1% ratification bonus fellow research professionals received in June. Now is the time for us to speak up loud and clear:
We will enforce our contract.
Today, that starts with two things: Ratify the initial bargaining demands petition, and join your union.
Sign on to our Initial Bargaining Demands
STEPs begin accretion bargaining on October 9.
The Initial Bargaining Demands represent our opening positions in this negotiation. The bargaining team reviewed survey responses so far and put together these initial bargaining demands accordingly. Now it’s up to us.
The more STEPs who sign on, the more weight our demands carry with UC. Adding your name to the petition shows UC that we are united in our demands and have each other’s backs. Every signature counts.
Join Your Union
Nobody is going to enforce our contract for us, certainly not our employers. It is up to us, each of us, to invest in our union.
Becoming a dues-paying member is not the same as signing an authorization card. That step got us to the bargaining table. Becoming union members declares that STEPs have skin in the game. It also gives us the means to go up against UC, a multibillion-dollar employer and one of the largest in California.
Dues are democratically set at 1.44% of gross pay, and those don’t even start until after our contract is ratified.
Think about that: Right now — as we pay nothing – we are relying on lawyers, organizers, and many other resources paid for by other union members standing in solidarity with us. Joining our union ensures that STEPs can continue to have the power to enforce our rights today and in years to come.