This post was updated July 14 at 7:29 p.m.

Staff research associates at the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab demanded their wages be paid, weeks before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The SRAs alleged that they collectively have been denied approximately $266,562 since July 2023, the date their raises were supposed to have been put into effect, according to a document obtained by the Daily Bruin. The OAL is responsible for enforcing anti-doping standards for agencies including the NFL, NCAA and the United States Anti-Doping Agency – the client representing the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The SRAs said there could be potential risks to the integrity of the drug testing process as a result of the withheld pay, according to a press release issued by the SRAs.

“In terms of people just coming into work and all of these things, I mean, it’s kind of distracting to have something like this going on,” said Elise Parsaee, an SRA at the OAL. “It’s really a morale thing – of people not necessarily excited to be doing their work, or not necessarily pushing themselves to process samples faster or pushing themselves to improve the lab – because we aren’t being given the certain respective pay that we were offered.”

Last July, UCLA Employee and Labor Relations proposed a reclassification of the lab workers’ official titles from “staff research associates” to “hospital laboratory technologists” with significant pay increases of up to about 30%, according to a second document obtained by the Daily Bruin.

However, lab workers never received their raised salaries.

Parsaee said UPTE filed an unfair practice charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board in March, claiming the university violated Section 3571 of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act. The violations include delaying meeting with the union and improperly encouraging union switching, according to a document obtained by the Daily Bruin.

“They used our Union against us to avoid awarding these raises, and no equity reviews are being allowed while this process drags on,” Parsaee said in the press release.

The SRAs’ demands include the immediate implementation of the proposed July 2023 pay increases, with eight months of back pay to account for ELR’s delays. They also asked for incorporation of a January 2% step increase and a transparent review of pay equity and job structure to honor the contributions and duties of all staff, according to a document obtained by the Daily Bruin.

Parsaee said ELR’s tactics to delay the pay included avoiding meetings and dismissing any concerns from employees questioning these actions. She added that workers have become increasingly frustrated and feel their concerns are not being heard.

“When we were given this hope in July, we were like, ‘Oh, wow, things are changing,’ and people were really excited because of the increases,” Parsaee said. “Over time, it felt like, ‘Well, when is this going to happen? When are people going to be awarded these increases that we were offered?’”

Parsaee said that the university’s stated values of integrity and accountability have been lacking in its treatment of employees throughout the dispute.

“If employees have to spend months begging for an equitable raise that you offered in the first place, you know as an employer you are failing to value them,” said Elaine Osorio, an SRA, in the press release.

UCLA Health declined to comment on the allegations.