Graduate students can now unionize

The National Labor Relations Board ruled this week that graduate students working as research and teaching assistants at private colleges have the right to unionize. The right of grad students to form unions has been a pressing issue at both private and state universities in recent years. Students at the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin and Yale University have all protested about their need to collectively bargain -- and at the public schools, they have received those rights. While the ruling should impact other schools, Penn grad students say working conditions have not been a concern. So it is hard to say if this case will have any noticeable impact on campus. "Grad student leaders have a good rapport with the administration," one GAPSA official said. "The administration has been proactive rather than reactive, and for this reason there hasn't been the same push for unionization as there has been at other schools." This particular case involved graduate student assistants at NYU, but the ruling is expected to apply to other private colleges and university campuses. The central question raised in the case is whether graduate assistants at a university can be classified as employees. The principle argument of the employer and others is that graduate students are not entitled to the protection and benefits of the National Labor Relations Act because they are also students. The NLRB ruled against this argument and granted graduate assistants the rights guaranteed to all employees, including the right to form unions to negotiate wages, benefits and other conditions of employment. The struggle has been particularly visible at Yale, were the graduate student union has been seeking recognition for over 10 years. Grad students say they work long hours for professors for low pay, while still also working as students. They have been looking for more power to negotiate conditions with their employers.

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