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The University created this website to provide clear information about unionization. This website will be updated to provide UA employees with comprehensive resources to make informed decisions.

Check this site regularly for updates. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, contact UA Labor Relations at ua-ler@alaska.edu.

The United Auto Workers (UAW).

Union organizing activities are allowed at UA if they adhere to three core principles: Place, Function, and Time. These principles ensure that our employees can continue doing their jobs without interruptions while maintaining the right to organize.

1. Place: Organizing activity and discussions can happen in spaces that do not disrupt work or educational program activities.

a. Public spaces - building hallways and atriums, or sidewalks - are generally permissible places for organizing activity, unless the activity interferes with employees actively performing their job duties or participation in educational program activities.. Offices, cubicles, and reception areas are a few examples of places where organizing activity would be inappropriate.

2. Function: Organizing cannot interrupt employees’ preparation for or execution of their work tasks. 

a. For example, engaging with staff at their workstation or counter during work hours is not allowed.

3. Time: Organizing activities must occur during non-work hours, such as breaks or lunch, and not disrupt or interrupt work hours.

Supervisors and managers will ask organizers whose activity doesn’t adhere to those principles to leave the workspace and return to a more public area. If you’re unsure about a specific situation, visit for answers to FAQs, or reach out to your supervisor or manager.

Yes, in public areas, but not in workspaces or where it interferes with foot traffic.

Union organizing efforts are not allowed to interrupt or disrupt the preparation of employee work. That means union organizers who are not university employees may not be in non-public work areas, even with an employee’s permission.

Not if it interferes with or disrupts your work or workplace interactions. If that’s the case, notify your supervisor. Union materials shouldn't be displayed in ways that disrupt work.

Distributing union materials in work areas during work time is not allowed. You can ask your supervisor to address the situation.

Supervisors have been instructed not to express views that could be seen as influencing employee decisions on unionization.

 

No. Employees have the right to wear union-related buttons at work.

As long as the content doesn't imply official university endorsement or disrupt university operations.

That would be a violation of labor law. Employees should report such incidents to Labor Relations immediately. Supervisors may not threaten or retaliate based on union support.

It's ultimately not clear who would be a part of a staff union at UA. That would be determined if and when a petition to form the union is filed. If that occurs, the ������ƵLabor Relations Agency (ALRA) would allow UA to review and suggest potential changes to who’s covered by the unit during the review and certification process.

������ƵLaw requires that bargaining units be as large and encompassing as possible, and depending on the type of work that staff do, UA may seek further clarification of the unit or changes to membership of other bargaining units so that employees doing similar tasks are represented by the same unit.

The university can’t make any specific promise about what might happen in the future. Management's philosophy is to:

• Maintain staffing to fulfill UA’s mission
• Offer competitive compensation and benefits
• Provide necessary tools within budget constraints
• Support employee wellness and career development

UA currently operates on a distribution budget model, which means individual departments, colleges, and institutes are distributed a fixed portion of the revenue we receive from the state, federal government, and tuition. It's up to those unit leaders, deans, and directors to decide how to manage their staffing and cost increases that aren't covered by their budget, and they have considerable leeway in doing so.

Unionization does not guarantee changes to salaries or benefits. Wages, healthcare, and retirement plans would be subject to collective bargaining, which could result in benefits remaining the same, improving, or changing in other ways. The university faces the same economic conditions regardless of whether the employees are in a unionized or non-unionized environment.

Union members also may pay union dues, which could impact overall compensation.

The same economic conditions would be present in either a unionized or non-unionized situation. 

 

Yes, layoffs can occur under a union contract, and collective bargaining agreements typically have provisions that govern layoffs.

Once a union election process begins and during collective bargaining, if a union is certified, there are legal restrictions on the University’s ability to change wages, benefits, or working conditions.

No closures of campuses or community colleges are currently planned, although we continue to evaluate all cost-saving options given the tightening federal and state fiscal environments.

Neither current nor future employee unions impact the University’s view of its educational mission regarding the future of the UA campuses and community colleges. The University has always retained the discretion to determine whether to maintain ongoing operations and what level of activities take place on campuses.

Unions determine their proposals through internal decision-making processes over which the University has no control, which may involve input from its members, leadership and bargaining representatives.

Once a contract is in place, all employees covered by it must abide by its terms. Employees in the bargaining unit typically have an opportunity to vote on the contract under rules determined by the union, but if it is approved, it applies to everyone in the bargaining unit.

Typically, a union collects signed authorization cards from employees. If enough employees sign cards, the union may file a petition with the ������ƵLabor Relations Agency (ALRA) for an election. The ALRA determines who is eligible to vote and conducts the election. If a majority of voting employees vote in favor of unionization, the union is certified and will negotiate a contract with the employer.

The ������ƵLabor Relations Agency (ALRA) will determine the timeline for hearings, if needed, and a potential election if a petition for representation is filed. The formation of the ������ƵGraduate Workers Association (AGWA) in 2024 was preceded by several months of negotiations between the unit and UA and several additional months of hearings in front of the ALRA to determine who would be included in the new unit.

The bargaining unit must submit a petition to the ALRA, which will review and consider approving it. 

• If ALRA approves the petition, the union must then collect and submit signed authorization cards to them.
• The ALRA will then decide 1) whether enough cards have been submitted, and 2) what employees will be represented in the bargaining unit. A hearing may be held on the composition of the group, or “unit definition." Under ������Ƶlaw, “supervisory” and “confidential” employees cannot be in the same bargaining unit as other employees.
• Supervisory employees are defined by role, not title. They are those who have the power to make important decisions for their employer, including: hiring, transferring, or laying off employees; disciplining employees; or handling employee complaints and union grievances. 
• Confidential employees are those who assist managers with labor relations issues and policies.
• An election is set, held, and administered by ALRA. In the election, a majority of those employees who actually vote will decide whether there will be a union and who will be represented in the unit.
• For example, if 1,000 employees are proposed in the unit, and only 100 people vote, the majority of 51 people who voted would decide for all the rest of the 1000 proposed employees in the bargaining unit.  
• Voting is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that their voice is heard.

If employees choose union representation:

• Negotiations begin
• Negotiations cover wages, hours, and conditions of employment.
• The university cannot change processes for determining wages, hours, and conditions of employment while negotiations continue.
• Only the union can work with the university on those issues, and individual employees are governed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiated between the university and the union.
• Because a union represents all members of the bargaining unit, not just those who decide to join the union as members, unions generally require both members and non-members to pay representation costs.
• Issues not involving wages, hours, and conditions of employment are decided by the university, e.g., type of position or grade for a position.
• Employees may go on strike if an acceptable agreement can’t be reached.
• Any CBA must be approved by the Board of Regents, the ������ƵDepartment of Administration, and be funded by the Legislature.

If employees choose not to be represented by a union:

• Employee issues will be handled through established processes.
• Following a vote in which the union does not receive a majority of favorable ballots, the union can start the representation process again in one year.