PLOS Union

Mission Statement

Since its founding, the Public Library of Science (PLOS) has been a trailblazer in open access scientific publishing. Behind all of PLOS’s successes are its employees, who are proud to work for an organization that stands for equity, accountability, and inclusivity among scientific communities worldwide.

Every day, we work to fulfill PLOS’s founding principle, that "the permanent, archival record of scientific research and ideas should neither be owned nor controlled by publishers, but should belong to the public." Now, in order to protect our rights and create a more equitable workplace, the employees of PLOS are organizing to form a union.

We organize out of commitment to PLOS’s vision, and believe that our role in the organization will be strengthened by collective bargaining, which will boost morale and improve relations between management and staff. A union will also positively impact the quality of work we publish by establishing mutually-binding standards for work across the organization.

Our goal is to collectively bargain a contract to ensure protections for PLOS staff members. Our priorities are intended to ensure the sustainability of PLOS and to serve as a model for fairness and stability across the industry. These include:

• Dignified salaries and benefits that keep pace with cost of living.

• Concrete efforts to address shortcomings in diversity, equity, and inclusivity. 

• Concrete efforts to address PLOS’s high rate of turnover and ensure adequate staffing. 

• Clearly defined job responsibilities, organizational policies, and reporting structures.

• Transparent and clear communication from management.

• Meaningful input from workers on changes that affect us. 

We look forward to negotiating with PLOS management in good faith to secure our fair treatment and provide a foundation for truly open and equitable science. Through these negotiations, PLOS has the privileged opportunity to demonstrate goodwill toward its employees and to serve as inspiration for progress within the scientific publishing community and beyond.