FAQs
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Organizing is a surprisingly organic process, especially in the beginning. It all starts with peers connecting with one another and sharing their interest in building a union. A great first step is to start gathering a list of interested people and their personal emails/phone numbers.
Once at least 15-30% of your non-supervisory coworkers are supportive of a union, you’ll want to start to collect official forms (or a showing of interest) and work with a union to help file paperwork with the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to have an election. If your workplace votes YES to have union representation, you and your coworkers will need to define your workplace priorities so that they can be included in the new contract/bargaining agreement. Visit our Organizing 101 page for more information.
Also, please reach out to us via the "Join the Movement" page. There's a lot of expertise to be shared and support you can get from other worker organizers. You don't have to go it alone!
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RIF Protections
Clear guidelines for performance evaluations (EPAPs)
Whistle blower protections / protections from retaliation
Telework flexibility
Hazard pay
Better treatment for seasonal employees
Stipends for equipment, boots, tuition, trainings, etc.
Addressing housing concerns
...and more! What other issues are coming up at your park? We want to hear from you!
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No, we cannot strike, but there are many ways to build and exert collective power. Federal unions can file grievances, go to legally-binding arbitration, or file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge if management does not abide by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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A union contract defines the procedures that management must follow regarding activities such as: leave, addressing safety and health concerns, filing grievances, scheduling, and legal representation.
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Union dues depend on the union your park unit decides to unionize with. Some are on a flat rate while others are on a sliding scale. A ballpark for some of the existing federal union chapters are $15-35 per pay period.
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Kind of. The union contract will apply to everyone in the bargaining unit (i.e. all employees eligible to join the union), regardless of whether they pay dues. However, only members have access to union representation, support in filing grievances, and voting rights to decide on union issues. And only members have input in the bargaining process (i.e. what they want the union to negotiate for in the contract).
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Yes! You can decide which non-supervisory workers are included in your bargaining unit, but you can (and, dare we say, should?) include seasonals, terms, and perms.
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The FLRA requires that union votes be split between “professionals” and “non-professionals.” These designations don’t always match those OPM uses for position classification. In union elections, “professionals” must choose whether they want to be in the same bargaining unit as “non-professionals”. Bargaining units which were initially set up to represent only one of these groups can later be expanded through a vote to cover both.
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In the current campaign, with somewhere between 75 and 100 park units actively unionizing (with most fully out in the open), we are aware of zero attempts or efforts to retaliate. Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon held their election and successfully unionized in summer 2025, and additional parks filed to start their election process in fall 2025.
Per NTEU, retaliation in the federal sector is incredibly rare. That aligns with what we've seen in NPS. Is it illegal for a supervisor to retaliate? Yes. Is it possible? Always. It's up to every employee to determine their level of risk tolerance. We have not observed any retaliation occur nor has any been reported to us during this campaign (beginning early 2025).