by Vanguard Staff
Berkeley/Los Angeles, CA – Research and Public Service Professionals across the University of California voted overwhelmingly to unionize, joining the growing wave of higher education employees organizing under the United Auto Workers.
On Tuesday, votes were tallied in an election covering 7,200 Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) across UC campuses. Workers voted 3,080 to 612 — with 83 percent in favor — to form RPSP-UAW.
RPSPs are full-time professional staff who play a central role in UC’s academic and research mission. They run core facilities, administer grants, analyze data and support projects ranging from pediatric cancer research to homelessness prevention, space science and public health. Many cited stagnant salaries, increased workloads, job insecurity and lack of transparency in UC’s administration as key reasons for seeking union representation. Others noted that with federal funding for higher education under threat, they wanted a stronger political voice.
“I’m thrilled we won our union because I know my colleagues have the expertise necessary to help strengthen the UC in these difficult times, and now we finally have our seat at the negotiating table,” said Leila Espinosa, Project Management Professional at UCLA.
“Forming a union has never been more important with higher education under increasing attack. We are joining a movement of research and professional employees in UAW who have been at the forefront of fighting funding cuts and protecting jobs and values in higher education. Many of our closest colleagues at UC are already a part of this movement, and through an incredible organizing effort, we have now gained the same rights and bargaining power as them,” said Deborah Ferguson-Fitch, Research Administrator at UCSF.
“As the Trump administration continues its assault on workers, it’s never been more important to join the movement of tens of thousands of higher education workers throughout the country who are standing up for social and economic justice at their jobs and in their communities. UAW members across the country look forward to standing with RPSPs in their fight to improve their working conditions, to protect research funding, and to create the better world we all deserve,” said Mike Miller, UAW Region 6 Director.
With the vote, RPSPs join more than 50,000 UC researchers, professional staff and academic workers already represented by UAW. The unionization effort is part of a broader trend nationwide, with professional and academic staff increasingly turning to unions for a voice in determining their working conditions and to defend higher education against budget cuts and political attacks.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
