University of California (UC) postdocs have voted to unionize, ratifying a five-year contract that brings their starting pay in line with US National Institutes of Health recommendations. The contract, approved on 11 August, also formalizes policies on sick days, leave, travel expenses, job protection and annual reviews. “It's a big victory,” says Matthew O'Connor, a bioengineering postdoc at UC Berkeley who was on the contract bargaining team. There are some 6,500 postdocs at UC, 10% of all postdocs in the United States. Only a handful of US universities have postdoc unions, including Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.