A union is a private organization that represents a group of employees in their dealings with their employer. The group of employees the union represents is called a “bargaining unit.” The union negotiates with the employer over terms and conditions of employment, such as wages, benefits, work schedules, grievance resolution, and career advancement opportunities.

Currently, SEIU Local 500 represents staff in the Provost and Enrollment Divisions, adjunct faculty, and graduate assistants. SAG-AFTRA represents content creators at WAMU. 

American University respects our employees’ right to organize. We have worked to build productive relations with the unions that currently represent AU employees and have successfully negotiated multiple contracts that support the interests of employees and the university.

SEIU Local 500 filed a petition with the NLRB for an election based on interest from the potential bargaining unit members. The petition was filed on April 29, 2024.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) grants employees the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from participating in such activity. It sets out what employees are covered by the law, how the parties must participate in the bargaining process, and puts the NLRB – an independent federal agency – in charge of enforcing the law. The NLRA applies to all organizations whether or not there is currently a union at that organization, and states that neither an employer nor a union may interfere with, intimidate, restrain, coerce, or discriminate against an employee because the employee has exercised rights granted under the law or refused to do so.

Employees have the right to organize, form, join, or assist any employee organization. They have the right to bargain collectively or engage in concerted activity for collective bargaining. They also have the right to refrain from engaging in any of these activities    although if a union wins an election, all the members of the bargaining unit, whether they voted for, against, or didn’t vote at all, are covered by the terms of any collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union, whether or not they choose to join the union.

Absolutely not. The university recognizes the right of staff to engage in concerted activity to advance their common interests. Under no circumstances will the university take adverse action against a staff member for exercising those rights. Federal law also protects individuals from retaliation for their advocacy either for or against unionization.

To petition the NLRB for an election, the union must demonstrate a “show of interest” by getting signatures asking for representation from at least 30 percent of the employees in a potential bargaining unit. Typically, unions wait until they have signatures from more than 50 percent to be sure of winning the election.

Staff have a federally protected right to oppose unionization. If you do not want to be represented by a union, make your voice heard by voting your preference in the union election. 

If there is a unionization election, it will be decided by a simple majority of those who cast ballots, even if only a minority of staff members vote. For example, if the proposed bargaining unit has 200 employees, but only 30 of them vote in the election, the majority vote of those 30  will determine the status of unionization for all 200. In this example, the “yes” vote of 16 staff would decide the election for staff covered by the bargaining unit. 

Staff within the proposed bargaining unit would be covered by the collective bargaining agreement currently in place for staff in the Provost and Undergraduate Enrollment Divisions. The collective bargaining agreement currently is limited to non-supervisory staff below the level of Associate Director in the Provost Undergraduate Enrollment Management and the AU Museum divisions. As a part of this unit, staff will be represented by SEIU Local 500, an outside organization, for purposes of negotiating a uniform set of employment terms and conditions, including pay, benefits, promotions, and grievance resolution.

Currently, staff that are not represented by a union can communicate directly and individually with the administration regarding working conditions and can also work with their manager, unit leadership, Human Resources, Staff Council, and the Benefits Advisory Project Team to address matters involving terms and conditions of employment. 

A union would create different structures for the represented staff. Contracts would be negotiated by bargaining committees composed of union members. The concerns of staff in the bargaining unit members would be channeled through union representatives and a labor-management committee composed of union members serving in these roles in addition to their AU jobs. Problems and concerns regarding terms and conditions of employment would be addressed through these new structures. Members of the union pay dues every paycheck, and those who choose not to join still pay a fee to the union for this representation.