Dive Brief:
- The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that a new election must be held for Marist College adjunct professors seeking to form a union.
- Adjunct faculty members had accused the college of interfering with the June mail-in election conducted by the NLRB, and the board agreed, according to the Service Employees International Union.
- The results of the June election have been set aside, and a new election date has yet to be determined.
Dive Insight:
The labor board ruled that the college censored pro-union adjunct faculty members who tried to communicate via a private college listserv. Also, according to the SEIU, Marist President Dennis Murray tried to dissuade adjuncts from voting for the union by creating a committee a week before the election, and the college tried to head off pro-union votes by announcing a starting salary increase for adjuncts. The Poughkeepsie, NY, institution has nearly 500 part-time or adjunct professors.