Dive Summary:
- National Labor Relations Board announced last month that it is reconsidering whether grad students are union-eligible, which could potentially reverse a 2004 decision involving a union bid at Brown University.
- Debate was reignited by unionization bids by graduate teaching assistants at New York University, where United Auto Workers is looking to unionize grad students, with a deadline of this past Monday for all interested parties to submit their arguments.
- NYU argues that graduate teaching assistants are already protected by adjunct faculty unions, though UAW questions whether the students are treated the same as adjunct faculty.
From the article:
WASHINGTON -- Are graduate students who work as teaching assistants and research assistants at private universities entitled to collective bargaining? The answer depends on whether these graduate student employees should be seen primarily as students or employees. If the former, the National Labor Relations Board would have a tough time saying that they have unionization rights. If the latter, the NLRB could easily say that they are entitled to unions. Many observers of graduate education might well say that these graduate student employees are both students and employees. But when the NLR...