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This is a press release from my old union about the NLRB decision yesterday. I guess the only good thing about this is that grad student unions at private universities are not illegal, merely no longer accorded official status as unions, which means the schools are not legally compelled to bargain with them in good faith.
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Local 2322 Outraged at NLRB’s Decision to Deny Protections of Federal Labor Law to Graduate Teaching and Research Assistants
For immediate release
Please contact James A.W. Shaw at (413) 534-7600 or (413) 582-9853
AMHERST, Mass. (July 16, 2004)—UAW Local 2322, which represents 2,500 graduate student employees at University of Massachusetts Amherst, is condemning a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that graduate teaching assistants are not employees covered by federal labor law.
The NLRB concluded that graduate student Teaching and Research assistants in the private sector are primarily students, and do not qualify for the protections under federal labor law afforded most workers.
“This decision shows that the NLRB is out of touch with reality,” said James A.W. Shaw, a graduate assistant in the department of sociology. “Graduate employees are workers like any other, and deserve the right to form a union just like any other worker.”
Graduate TAs and RAs pay taxes, and are covered by workers’ compensation, health and safety laws, and other workplace laws. The NLRB is now the only government agency that refuses to recognize graduate employee’s employee status.
The decision covers only graduate employees in the private sector, and does not affect graduate students in the public sector, such as those who work at UMass Amherst. Graduate employees at UMass Amherst have been organized since 1989.
“TAs and RAs at UMass have greatly benefited from having a voice in their working conditions through unionization,” said Jennifer Turner, president of Local 2322’s Graduate Employee Organization (GEO), which represents graduate TAs and RAs. “It’s clearly anti-union for the NLRB to take away the right of collective bargaining, which has improved the working lives of graduate employees across the country.”
“The NLRB’s decision has revealed yet again the anti-union agenda of the Bush administration,” said Ron Patenaude, president of UAW Local 2322. “This decision was openly partisan, and reflects George Bush’s mission to undermine labor unions.”
The original decision to grant collective bargaining rights to TAs and RAs in the private sector was made by a bipartisan panel of the NLRB under the Clinton Administration.
“All of the union’s legal and moral arguments were right on,” Shaw said. “However, these Bush appointees allowed their extreme right-wing ideology to interfere with their duty to uphold the National Labor Relations Act.”
GEO’s history highlights the fact that this NLRB ruling actually does not prohibit graduate employees at private universities to form unions. In 1977, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (MLRC) ruled that graduate employees at UMass Amherst were not employees and could not form legally recognized unions, just as the NLRB ruled this week. In 1989, however, graduate employees at UMass organized and demanded that the university voluntarily recognize the union.
After a strike, UMass conceded to an election sponsored by a private agency, rather than the government. For four years, UMass and the UAW had a bargaining relationship with each other that included negotiating numerous union contracts. All of this happened even though the state government at that time refused to recognize the right of graduate employees to form a union (In 1994, the MLRC ultimately recognized that right.)
“Despite the NLRB’s ruling, we hope that graduate employees at Brown, Columbia, Penn and other campuses continue their fight,” Shaw added. “Forming a union is a fundamental human right recognized by most nations and the United Nations. Grad TAs and RAs at private campuses should not be deterred by a Republican administration’s wrongheaded decision. Rather, they should fight on.”
------
Local 2322 Outraged at NLRB’s Decision to Deny Protections of Federal Labor Law to Graduate Teaching and Research Assistants
For immediate release
Please contact James A.W. Shaw at (413) 534-7600 or (413) 582-9853
AMHERST, Mass. (July 16, 2004)—UAW Local 2322, which represents 2,500 graduate student employees at University of Massachusetts Amherst, is condemning a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that graduate teaching assistants are not employees covered by federal labor law.
The NLRB concluded that graduate student Teaching and Research assistants in the private sector are primarily students, and do not qualify for the protections under federal labor law afforded most workers.
“This decision shows that the NLRB is out of touch with reality,” said James A.W. Shaw, a graduate assistant in the department of sociology. “Graduate employees are workers like any other, and deserve the right to form a union just like any other worker.”
Graduate TAs and RAs pay taxes, and are covered by workers’ compensation, health and safety laws, and other workplace laws. The NLRB is now the only government agency that refuses to recognize graduate employee’s employee status.
The decision covers only graduate employees in the private sector, and does not affect graduate students in the public sector, such as those who work at UMass Amherst. Graduate employees at UMass Amherst have been organized since 1989.
“TAs and RAs at UMass have greatly benefited from having a voice in their working conditions through unionization,” said Jennifer Turner, president of Local 2322’s Graduate Employee Organization (GEO), which represents graduate TAs and RAs. “It’s clearly anti-union for the NLRB to take away the right of collective bargaining, which has improved the working lives of graduate employees across the country.”
“The NLRB’s decision has revealed yet again the anti-union agenda of the Bush administration,” said Ron Patenaude, president of UAW Local 2322. “This decision was openly partisan, and reflects George Bush’s mission to undermine labor unions.”
The original decision to grant collective bargaining rights to TAs and RAs in the private sector was made by a bipartisan panel of the NLRB under the Clinton Administration.
“All of the union’s legal and moral arguments were right on,” Shaw said. “However, these Bush appointees allowed their extreme right-wing ideology to interfere with their duty to uphold the National Labor Relations Act.”
GEO’s history highlights the fact that this NLRB ruling actually does not prohibit graduate employees at private universities to form unions. In 1977, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission (MLRC) ruled that graduate employees at UMass Amherst were not employees and could not form legally recognized unions, just as the NLRB ruled this week. In 1989, however, graduate employees at UMass organized and demanded that the university voluntarily recognize the union.
After a strike, UMass conceded to an election sponsored by a private agency, rather than the government. For four years, UMass and the UAW had a bargaining relationship with each other that included negotiating numerous union contracts. All of this happened even though the state government at that time refused to recognize the right of graduate employees to form a union (In 1994, the MLRC ultimately recognized that right.)
“Despite the NLRB’s ruling, we hope that graduate employees at Brown, Columbia, Penn and other campuses continue their fight,” Shaw added. “Forming a union is a fundamental human right recognized by most nations and the United Nations. Grad TAs and RAs at private campuses should not be deterred by a Republican administration’s wrongheaded decision. Rather, they should fight on.”
