In a unanimous Halloween day decision that has rattled university administrators nationwide, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) opened the way for graduate teaching assistants at private colleges to unionize and collectively bargain with universities.
The Board decided TAs are employees receiving compensation from universities for labor and are covered by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA), which guarantees employees of institutions affecting interstate commerce the right to unionize.
It rejected New York University's argument that TAs are primarily students and they receive financial aid - not wages - for their work teaching classes and providing tutoring and grading services.
"We will not deprive workers who are compensated by, and under the control of, a statutory employer of their fundamental statutory rights to organize and bargain with their employer simply because they are students," the Board wrote in its decision.
The University is not directly affected by the NLRB's decision because as a public institution it does not fall under the scope of the NLRA, Law Prof. George Rutherglen said.
The right of University TAs to join unions is guaranteed by the First Amendment, Rutherglen said.
But a separate Virginia law covers the negotiation rights of TAs as Commonwealth employees, so even if they organize a union, it has no right to represent them in talks with the University, he said.
Administrators at private universities are worried about the implications the decision may have on their contract negotiations with TAs, especially in their freedom to hire and fire employees.
The Board rejected NYU's argument during the case that a TA union would interfere with academic freedom by restricting the university's ability to decide who may teach based on academic grounds.
The decision was based on two major precedents, NLRB v. Cornell University, which established that universities are covered by the NLRA and NRLB v. Boston Medical Center, which stated that medical interns and residents are employees under the NLRA.
The final fallout of the decision may not be known for some time because NYU may appeal the decision.
Yale University President Richard C. Levin issued a statement urging NYU to fight the decision. Yale is embroiled in a 10-year fight with a TAs Union.
"This alerts us to the importance of the issue," said David T. Gies, former University Faculty Senate chairman.
Although University TAs cannot bargain collectively through unions, "the University should do something to focus on the needs of graduate teaching assistants, in salary, and especially health care," Gies said.
Read More
MLK III to focus on youth participation in politics as professor of practice
By Ford McCracken | 3 hours agoRestrictive voting laws are only one problem with voting today, according to King — the other is voter apathy. King even called the level of voter participation in U.S. elections “abysmal.”
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | YesterdayThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | YesterdayA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
