TL;DR – The JPL Town Hall on Unionization featuring Representative Judy Chu will take place on March 13, 2026 at 12PM on Microsoft Teams. RSVP here to get updates. JPL Management has rescinded our booking for von Karman auditorium, but JPLers will still be coming together virtually to have an open conversation about forming a union at JPL.
On Friday, February 27, the auditoriums team at JPL rescinded our approved booking of von Karman auditorium, without providing a clear reason other than informing us that our “request is incompatible with the designated use of this space”.
At JPL, we do our best when we have a free exchange of ideas and an open conversation. For this reason, the Unionization Town Hall will take place on Friday, March 13 at 12PM on Microsoft Teams – you can RSVP here and access the meeting at this link. It is now more important than ever that JPLers come together for better working conditions and our protected right to talk about unionization at the workplace. We will send an email update with the physical location if we are able to secure one on Lab. Representative Chu has thrown her full support behind JPL workers and their right to unionize, and will address this town hall regardless of whether it is in person or online.
A panel of fellow JPLers will present information on the process to form a union at JPL, and what workers at JPL could accomplish by coming together. We will then have 30 minutes of open Q&A – questions will be submitted on Mentimeter, visible to all attendees to upvote, and answered in the order deemed most important by the audience.
We invite you to be a part of this gathering! RSVP here to receive future emails about this event. The more JPLers who attend, the more inclusive and representative the conversation will be! Invite your friends at JPL to join with their union-related questions!
Hope to see you there!
In solidarity,
Bonnie Buratti, Research Fellow 322D
Gary Doran, Data Scientist 341D
Lea Harris, Structural Engineer 352L
Siddharth Krishnamoorthy, Technologist 362K
Bob Pappalardo, Research Fellow 322E
Ella Seal, Systems Engineer 1131