Authorization Cards – JPL Be Informed

A union’s first step in recruiting new members is to get employees to demonstrate their support, typically by signing union authorization cards or petitions or clicking “agree” to an online solicitation. Prior to signing a union authorization card, you should understand the facts about union authorization cards and other union solicitations so you can make an informed decision.

Union organizers may say signing an authorization card is just a way to get more information, but that’s not the whole story. Union authorization cards are legal documents.

By signing a card, you are formally authorizing a union to serve as your exclusive representative and waiving the right to represent yourself individually in your workplace (if the union wins an election or JPL agrees to recognize the union without one).
If the union gets at least 30% of JPLers to sign authorization cards, the union would be able to file for an election among the group of JPLers it wants to organize.
If the union gets a majority of JPLers to sign cards, it may demand to represent you without a formal election. JPL can choose to reject this demand and insist on a democratic election.
If a union wins an election and is certified, it becomes the exclusive representative for everyone in the bargaining unit – regardless of whether you choose to become a union member, signed a union authorization card, or voted in an election.

As JPLers, you are naturally wired to ask hard questions, explore all angles, and evaluate systems for how they actually work – not just how they are described or represented. We encourage you to apply that same level of scrutiny before signing an authorization card.

FAQs

What does signing a union authorization card mean?

By signing a card, you are formally authorizing a specific union to serve as your exclusive representative and are waiving the right to represent yourself individually in conversations about your employment.
Signing an authorization card is not just a showing of interest or a request for more information – it is a legally binding declaration of support for a union.
If enough authorization cards are collected, a union can file for an election or demand to represent you without a formal election, subject to JPL’s agreement. If JPL refused to grant recognition to the union, it would have the option to file a petition for election with the NLRB.

Do I have to participate in a union if a union is certified, even if I did not vote or voted “no”?

If a union is certified, it becomes the exclusive representative for everyone in the defined unit – regardless of whether you vote for the union in an election (or vote at all) or choose to become a dues-paying union member.
An individual employee in the defined unit cannot opt out of the union’s coverage, rules, and representation – even if the individual does not vote for the union or choose to become a union member.

Doesn’t signing an authorization card just communicate that I want to help improve JPL?

Signing an authorization card functions like a power of attorney that transfers your agency to the union in its efforts to get certified.
You may come across union materials that focus heavily on broad ideals that a union seeks to achieve but offer less detail on specific, long-term implications or difficult questions.
We encourage you to press the union representatives for specifics, ask for clarity where things feel vague, and consider how union representation may affect workplace flexibility, JPL’s unique workplace culture, performance-based systems, your ability to directly advocate for yourself (or others) in the workplace, external relations and contracts, and other issues that matter to you.

Wouldn’t a JPL union solely consist of JPL employees? Why describe a union of JPL employees or JPLers who are soliciting authorization cards as a third party?

The idea that the formation of a union on Lab is solely JPLers coming together to brainstorm and request changes leaves out a key part of the union process.
Once certified, a union becomes a third-party legal representative with exclusive bargaining rights over your employment, and individual employees no longer have the full freedom to advocate directly for their own interests – even if an individual feels that they can better convey their own situation or contributions than the small number of JPL employee representatives who may be speaking on the employees’ behalf.
Union representation is a complete transfer of agency to an external entity even if some of the persons involved in your representation do happen to be JPLers.
This relationship becomes increasingly layered when a union is backed by a large international union like the United Auto Workers (UAW) that operates across sectors and has its own structure, leadership, and agenda. Such a union would not just represent your voice in the room, but those of a permanent intermediary with its own constraints and priorities.

How can I navigate constant requests to sign an authorization card?

Whether you choose to sign a union authorization card is entirely up to you.
It’s important to know that union organizers may be receiving direct instruction to be persistent in their outreach and demands for you to sign cards, and the cards may be presented as casual or symbolic.
While that approach is within organizers’ rights, you should never feel pressured into signing legally binding documents before you are fully ready or fully informed.

What are my options if I have already signed a card?

If you signed an authorization card without knowing its full implications or legal weight, or if you’ve otherwise reconsidered your choice, you have the right to ask for your card back or notify the union that you no longer support its effort.