Mon, 03/29/2021
On March 12, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) withdrew a controversial proposed rule that would have prevented graduate teaching and research assistants from attempting to unionize at private colleges and universities. The proposed rule, for which the NLRB issued notice of proposed rulemaking in September 2019, would have established that students who perform “any services for compensation, including, but not limited to, teaching or research, at a private college or university in connection with their studies” are not statutory employees as defined by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Dating back to at least 1974, the Board has grappled with the issue of whether graduate assistants are statutory employees entitled to the protections of the NLRA or are primarily students who are not eligible to form a union at a private college or university. The issue has taken on more significance over the past 20 years or so as a diverse group of unions have engaged in unionizing efforts within higher education throughout the United States.
In 2016, the NRLB held that it has “the statutory authority to treat student assistants as statutory employees, where they perform work, at the direction of the university, for which they are compensated.” The NLRB’s September 2019 proposed rule would have nullified the Board’s recent 2016 decision. In withdrawing the 2019 proposed rule, the NLRB maintains the 2016 precedent, giving hope to graduate student workers that will embolden organizing across the country.
For more information on workers’ right to organize, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/labor-unions.
