NYU Grad Student Assistants Petition for Union Recognition

StudentsThe Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC/UAW Local 2110) has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) demanding union recognition for NYU graduate student teaching and research assistants. In a statement, members said:  “Like any other workers, we want a union so that we can bargain collectively around wage, benefit and workplace issues, and achieve security and stability in the workplace,” adding: “GSOC/UAW Local 2110 is the only union that can guarantee the full collective bargaining rights of NYU graduate employees and represent our interests in ALL of the work that we perform for the university, including teaching, research and administrative services.” Last week, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) verified that a majority of NYU graduate students who serve as teaching and research assistants chose to be represented by Local 2110 in collective bargaining with the NYU administration. If the graduate students’ petition is successful, it would be the first time since 2004 that graduate students at a private university would be deemed covered by federal labor law. That year the NLRB decided in Brown University (pdf) that graduate student assistants are not statutory employees subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NYU graduate students’ petition may present the opportunity for the newly-appointed members of the NLRB to revisit the Brown University decision.

A bill has already been introduced in both the House and Senate this term that would reverse the Board’s decision in Brown.  The Teaching and Research Assistant Collective Bargaining Rights Act (H.R. 1461, S. 813) would effectively allow private university students who serve as teaching and research assistants to form or join a union.

Photo credit: Joshua Hodge Photography

Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.