‘NextGen’ Tempus AI Workers Continue to Make History with Landmark First IAM Contract

Inaugural IAM members at Tempus AI recently ratified their first contract with the Chicago-based precision healthcare artificial intelligence biotech lab, making history as one of the first unions in the industry.

The group of 443 lab workers, who use next generation DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to help provide precision healthcare treatment options to cancer patients, and data used in leading cancer research, is chartering the IAM Midwest Territory’s first healthcare unit, Local H1.

“We spent a lot of time in preparation,” said IAM Midwest Territory International Representative Bill LePinske. “Everything was very well thought out. I applaud the committee’s work away from the bargaining table and their level of dedication to the process. On both sides of the table, it wasn’t about winning or losing, it was about solving problems.”

In early 2024, the lab workers at Tempus AI, many of whom hold advanced degrees, voted to join the IAM. Now, just over a year after their union election was certified, their first contract goes into effect on April 24, 2025, establishing a landmark in the evolution of labor relations within the biotech industry.

The new contract addresses the group’s core issues regarding work–life balance, competitive pay and benefits, safety, and transparency.

Highlights of the three-year agreement include: 

• Guaranteed wage increases ranging from 10% to 12.5% over three years with the ability to add merit.
• Retroactive wage increases to Feb. 24.
• Promotion increases ranging from 6% to 11% with ability to add merit
• Wage protection language requiring the employer to increase wages if a new employee comes in 5% over the contractual minimum.
• Increases to shift premiums.
• Guaranteed annual company stock issues.
• Improvements to paid time off rules and accruals.
• Safety language, including a safety committee.
• Grievance and arbitration process.

“We got a first contract in only eight bargaining sessions,” said IAM Midwest Territory International Representative Chris Tucker, who helped organize the group. “I really want to tip my hat to this bargaining committee. They were incredibly dedicated to this cause. They spent a lot of their own time and made an extraordinary effort to create terms that don’t just benefit themselves, but benefit the whole group. They took everybody into account.” 

The new local union’s formal name is “Next Generation Local H1,” a name that carries meaning with the group as pioneers in biotech research and in labor organizing.

“The name is symbolic of their young energy coming into the space,” said LePinske. “It signifies that they’re going to do things a bit of a different way, a more modern way. It’s a reflection of the work they do, because the process they use sequencing the patients’ DNA is known as “Next Generation Sequencing” or NGS and also signifies what they were trying to accomplish with their local union.”

“This contract will set a standard for any others to come,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “We are in this industry now, and these trail-blazing new members have put in some impressive work to successfully build their own local union with a strong first contract through solidarity with each other. This entire campaign, from interest in organizing with the IAM to their first, ratified collective bargaining agreement, is a win for our entire union and all workers in the industry.”

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