On June 9, an article in Today at Berkeley Lab announced that
the University Professional and Technical Employees/ Communication
Workers of America(UPTE), a labor union/organization, had requested
the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) for a ballot to
represent Administrative Professionals. A number of people have
asked which employees are included in that group. The range
of positions possibly affected by this election spans a wide
variety of job titles. While a final list of jobs has not yet
been determined, some of the specific titles within this group
include Accountant, Administrative Specialist, Administrator,
Auditor, Budget Analyst, Business Systems Specialist, Computer
Systems Engineer, Educational Program Administrator, Subcontracts
Administrator, Technical Information Specialist, Regulatory
Compliance Engineer/Specialist and Writer/Editors.
For a union to activate the process for exclusive representation
of a bargaining unit, it must first obtain at least 30 percent
of the proposed unit's signatures. Over the past year, UPTE
has been collecting signatures on authorization or interest
cards in preparation for its petition to PERB.
Currently, PERB is analyzing the authorization cards that
UPTE has submitted in support of its petition to represent
Administrative Professionals. If UPTE does not meet the 30
percent threshold and PERB finds the proof of support deficient,
it may allow UPTE 10 days to provide proof of support. During
that time, UPTE may collect more signatures on authorization
cards to demonstrate support for its proposed unit.
If UPTE meets the 30 percent threshold, PERB then must determine
the unit in which an election would be held. This process
would involve deciding what classifications of employees would
be included or excluded, whether the unit would be systemwide
in scope or possibly limited to individual locations, and
whether certain employees are supervisors or confidential
employees. Once a unit is determined, it is likely that an
election would be set, which PERB would supervise and conduct.
Under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act (HEERA),
all non-managerial, non-confidential employees have the right
to form, join and participate in union activities, or to refuse
to do so.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
See also the information available at:
http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/HumanResources/union_organizing/
Questions can be addressed to [email protected]
Calendar
