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NATIONAL CENTER
for the Study of Collective Bargaining in
Higher Education and the Professions
E-Note
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Remembering the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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As part of our nation's observance of the annual holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is fitting that we recall his views on education, unionization, and collective bargaining.
Dr. King wrote the following comments in 1947 about the purposes of education, while still an undergraduate at Morehouse College:
"Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.
"The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals."
Dr. King was an active supporter of collective bargaining and economic justice throughout his career. This fact is too often forgotten during holiday ceremonies celebrating his legacy. At the time of his assassination in 1968, Dr. King was in Memphis, Tennessee to rally support for striking municipal sanitation workers. Three years before the Memphis strike, in October 1965, Dr. King made the following remarks during a speech in Springfield, Illinois:
"The two most dynamic movements that reshaped the nation during the past three decades are the labor and civil rights movements. Our combined strength is potentially enormous. We have not used a fraction of it for our own good or for the needs of society as a whole. If we make the war on poverty a total war; if we seek higher standards for all workers for an enriched life, we have the ability to accomplish it, and our nation has the ability to provide it. lf our two movements unite their social pioneering initiative, thirty years from now people will look back on this day and honor those who had the vision to see the full possibilities of modern society and the courage to fight for their realization. On that day, the brotherhood of man, undergirded by economic security, will be a thrilling and creative reality." Selected Bibliography: Taylor Branch, At Canaan's Edge, America in the King Years, 1965-68 (2006); Michael K. Honey, Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign (2007); Thomas E. Jackson, From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Struggle for Economic Justice (2007).  |
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Register Now for the National Center's 2016 Conference
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Our Future is Now in Higher Education
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Registration has begun for the National Center's 2016 annual national conference. The full list of plenary sessions, panel presentations and interactive workshops is available on our website. Updates concerning the conference will be announced in future E-Notes and on the website. The conference will take place on April 3-5, 2016 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. The theme of the conference is: Our Future is Now in Higher Education. The conference is being underwritten by a grant from TIAA-CREF with additional support from Segal/Sibson.
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Saint Michael's College and SEIU Reach First Contract for Adjunct Unit
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According to a media report, the adjunct faculty unit represented by SEIU at Saint Michael's College in Vermont voted to ratify a first contract with the college in December 2015. SEIU was certified to represent the adjunct faculty unit by the NLRB on December 12, 2014. Under the first contract, adjunct faculty teaching credit bearing courses will receive a 10% salary increase in the first year and adjunct faculty teaching non-credit bearing courses will receive a 15% increase. The contract also includes a course cancellation fee of $1,000 for courses cancelled by the school without notice. |
NLRB Grants Request for Review in Columbia University Graduate Student Representation Case and Issues Notice Inviting Amicus Briefs
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The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-143012
NLRB Board Grants Review in Columbia University Graduate Student Case
The NLRB Board issued an order on December 23, 2015 granting the UAW's request for review and Columbia University's conditional request for review of the Region 2 Director's supplemental decision dismissing a representation petition concerning graduate students at Columbia University. In its order, the NLRB Board announced its intention to issue a subsequent notice establishing a briefing schedule and to invite amicus briefs to address the issues raised in the case. In October 2015, the NLRB Board granted a similar UAW request for review of a Region 2 Director's decision to dismiss a representation petition in New School, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-143009, in which the UAW seeks certification to be the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit composed of all student employees at the New School. Both the Columbia University and New School cases provide the NLRB Board with an opportunity to reexamine Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004), where it held that graduate students lack employee status under Section 2(3) of the NLRA. NLRB Board Invites Amicus Briefs in Columbia University CaseOn January 13, 2016, the NLRB Board issued a notice inviting parties to submit amicus briefs by February 29, 2016 addressing the following questions in the Columbia University case: 1. Should the Board modify or overrule Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004), which held that graduate student assistants who perform services at a university in connection with their studies are not statutory employees within the meaning of Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act?
2. If the Board modifies or overrules Brown University, supra, what should be the standard for determining whether graduate student assistants engaged in research are statutory employees, including graduate student assistants engaged in research funded by external grants? See New York University, 332 NLRB 1205, 1209 fn. 10 (2000) (relying on Leland Stanford Junior University, 214 NLRB 621 (1974)).
3. If the Board concludes that graduate student assistants, terminal masters degree students and undergraduate students are statutory employees, would a unit composed of all these classifications be appropriate?
4. If the Board concludes that graduate student assistants, terminal masters degree students and undergraduate students are statutory employees, what standard should the Board apply to determine whether they constitute temporary employees?
Graduate Student Unionization to Be Subject of Panels at 2016 Conference
In light of the recent developments concerning graduate student organizing and unionization, the National Center has scheduled two panel discussions focused on these issues at our April 3-5, 2016 conference: Brown University Redux with Wilma Liebman, Visiting Scholar, Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations and former NLRB Chairman, Joe Ambash, Fisher & Phillips LLP, and Paula Voos, Associate Dean and Director, Undergraduate and Master's Programs in Labor and Employment Relations, Rutgers University with moderator Harris Freeman, Professor, Legal Research and Writing, Western New England University and Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board member. Graduate Assistants, Unionization, and Negotiations with Michael Eagen, Director and Counsel, University of Connecticut Office of Faculty and Staff Labor Relations, Kenneth Lang, UAW Region 9A International Representative, Julie Kushner, UAW Region 9A Director, and Raymond L. Haines, Associate Vice Chancellor for Employee Relations, State University of New York with moderator James O. Castagnera, Associate Provost and Legal Counsel for Academic Affairs, Rider University.
Survey on Collective Bargaining for Graduate Students and Post-Doctorates
The National Center is conducting an on-line survey seeking contemporary data concerning the current level of unionization and collective bargaining involving graduate students and post-doctorates. The survey should be completed by February 19, 2016 by individuals with requisite knowledge concerning an existing graduate student collective bargaining unit.
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University of Southern California: NLRB Director Finds Contingent Faculty to be Non-Managerial and Orders Representation Elections
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University of Southern California, NLRB Case No. 31-RC-164864
On November 24, 2015, SEIU filed representation petitions seeking to represent adjunct faculty in two bargaining units at the University of Southern California (USC). In response to both petitions, USC asserted that the petitioned-for units included managerial employees and/or supervisors under Section 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The university also argued that the NLRB's 2013 decision in Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014) was contrary to the United States Supreme Court's decision in NLRB v. Yeshiva University, 444 U.S. 672 (1980). In Case No. 31-RC-164864, SEIU seeks to represent a unit of approximately 300 USC full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty in the following unit:
Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty who are employed by the University of Southern California, including those who also hold a position as a Program Director or Coordinator, and who teach at least one credit-earning class, section, lesson, or lab within the academic unit known as the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the Employer's instructional facilities at the University Park Campus.
Excluded: All tenure or tenure-track faculty; all visiting faculty; all faculty teaching at an academic unit other than the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; all faculty regularly employed by the Employer at any location other than the University Park Campus; all faculty teaching online courses exclusively (regardless of location); all emeritus faculty; all registrars and librarians; all Athletic Department coaches; all graduate students; all post-doctoral scholars; all lab assistants, graduate assistants, clinical fellows, teaching assistants, and research assistants; all mentors who do not have teaching responsibilities; all department chairs, regardless of their faculty status; the President of the University; the Provost; all Associate Provosts, Vice Provosts, and Vice Presidents; all Deans, Vice Deans, Associate Deans and Assistant Deans, regardless of their faculty status; all nonfaculty employees; all volunteers; all other represented employees; and all managers, supervisors, and guards as defined in the Act.
In the second representation petition, Case No. 31-RC-164868, SEIU seeks to represent a unit of approximately 46 full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty in the following unit.
Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty who are employed by the University of Southern California and who teach at least one credit-earning class, section, lesson, or lab within the academic unit known as the USC Roski School of Art and Design at the Employer's instructional facilities at the University Park Campus or at the Graduate Fine Arts Building, located at 3001 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, California 90007. Excluded: All tenured or tenure-track faculty; all faculty whose primary teaching responsibilities are within an academic unit other than the USC Roski School of Art and Design; all faculty whose primary area of practice and/or scholarship is outside the following areas: ceramics, critical studies, design, intermedia, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, or sculpture; all faculty regularly employed by the Employer at any location other than the University Park Campus or the Graduate Fine Arts Building; all faculty teaching online courses exclusively (regardless of location); all emeritus faculty; all registrars and librarians; all Athletic Department coaches; all graduate students; all post-doctoral scholars; all lab assistants, graduate assistants, clinical fellows, teaching assistants, and research assistants; all mentors who do not have teaching responsibilities; all department chairs, regardless of their faculty status; all administrators, including those who have teaching responsibilities; the President of the University; the Provost; all Associate Provosts, Vice Provosts, and Vice Presidents; all Deans, Associate Deans and Assistant Deans, regardless of their faculty status; all non-faculty employees; all volunteers; all other represented employees; and all managers, supervisors, and guards and defined in the Act. In response to USC's objections to the petitions, a consolidated hearing was conducted by the NLRB Region 31 Director to determine whether the non-tenure track faculty in the proposed at-issue bargaining units were managerial or supervisory, and therefore excluded from the protections of the NLRA. Following the hearing, Region Director 31 Mori Rubin issued a decision and direction of elections on December 24, 2015. In his decision, the Regional Director concluded that that the part-time and full-time non-tenure track faculty in the two proposed bargaining units were not managerial employees. He found the evidence to be insufficient to find that the contingent faculty exercise actual or effective control over academic programs, enrollment management, finances, academic policies, and personnel policy and decisions based on their participation in university committees. In reaching his conclusions, the Regional Director considered the fact that the contingent faculty did not constitute a majority on the relevant committees.
On December 24, 2015, notices were issued by the Regional Director scheduling a mail ballot election with respect to each representation case, with the ballots to be mailed out on January 13, 2016 and the tallying of the ballots to take place on February 2, 2016 at the NLRB's Region 31 office.
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NLRB Election Scheduled for University of Southern California Lecturers
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On November 24, 2015, SEIU filed a third representation petition that seeks certification as the exclusive representative of approximately 48 full-time and part-time lecturers at the University of Southern California. A mail ballot election has been scheduled with the vote tally scheduled for February 2, 2016 at the NLRB Region 31 office. The following is the at-issue voting unit:
Those eligible to vote are: All full-time and part-time lecturers who are employed by the University of Southern California and who teach at least one class, section, lesson, or lab within the program known as the USC International Academy at the Employer's instructional facilities at the University Park Campus who
were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending prior to December 10, 2015.
Those not eligible to vote are: All other employees, all tenured or tenure-track faculty; all visiting faculty; all faculty teaching at an academic unit other than the USC International Academy; all faculty regularly employed by the Employer at any location other than the University Park Campus; all faculty teaching online courses exclusively (regardless of location); all emeritus faculty; all registrars and librarians; all Athletic Department coaches; all graduate students; all post-doctoral scholars; all lab assistants, graduate assistants, clinical fellows, teaching assistants, and research assistants; all mentors who do not have teaching responsibilities; all department chairs; all administrators, including those who have teaching responsibilities; the President of the University; the Provost; all Associate Provosts, Vice Provosts, and Vice Presidents; all Deans, Vice Deans, Associate Deans and Assistant Deans, regardless of their faculty status; all non-faculty employees; all volunteers; and all managers, supervisors, and guards as defined in the Act.
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| Loyola University Chicago: NLRB Asserts Jurisdiction Over Adjunct Faculty Case and Finds Combined Unit Appropriate |
Loyola University Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-164618
SEIU filed a representation petition on November 20, 2015 with the NLRB Region 13 Office seeking to represent approximately 397 full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty at Loyola University Chicago in its College of Arts and Sciences.
In response to the petition, Loyola University Chicago raised objections to the NLRB asserting jurisdiction based upon the school's religious affiliation pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979). The school also contended that a combined unit of full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty at the College of Arts and Sciences was inappropriate.
On January 5, 2016, following a hearing, Region 13 Director Peter Sung Ohr issued a decision and direction of election concluding that the university failed to meet its evidentiary burden under Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014) by demonstrating that it holds out the petitioned-for contingent faculty as performing a specific role in creating and maintaining the school's religious educational environment. In addition, the Regional Director concluded that the proposed unit was appropriate because there was a community of interest between the full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty to warrant them being included in the same unit. Lastly, he rejected the university's alternative argument that the part-time non-tenure track faculty in other parts of the university had an overwhelming community of interest with the at-issue non-tenure track faculty at the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Regional Director ordered a mail ballot election concerning the following bargaining unit with the ballots being mailed on January 11, 2016 and the ballot tally taking place on January 27, 2016 at the NLRB Region 13 office:
Included: All full-time and part-time non-tenure track faculty (Adjuncts, Adjunct
Professors, Adjunct Instructors, Adjunct Lecturers, Accompanists, Instructors, Lecturers, Lab Instructors, Senior Lecturers) employed by Loyola University Chicago in its College of Arts and Sciences located at its Lake Shore Campus at 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, Illinois and its Water Tower Campus.
Excluding all graduate school employees, graduate students, visiting faculty, Stritch
School of Medicine Employees, English Language Learner Program employees, tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, distinguished service faculty, research facility faculty who are not teaching credit bearing courses, emeritus faculty, all faculty in non-degree granting programs unless expressly included above, all faculty teaching in programs housed or facilities and addresses other than those described above, all faculty teaching online courses only, employees who do not teach undergraduate or graduate level credit-earning courses or labs, unless expressly included above, the Health Sciences Campus, the Retreat and Ecology Campus, the Rome Campus, the Beijing Campus, the Vietnam Center, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, the Quinlan School of Business, the School of Education, the Corboy Law Center, the School of Social Work, the School of Communications, the Institute of Pastoral Studies, the Arrupe College, the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), faculty paid by entities other than Loyola
University Chicago (including governments and organizations), all administrators including Deans, directors, trustees, provosts and chairs who may have teaching assignments, athletic coaches, academic advisors including those with teaching assignments, all other employees employed by the University including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching, and managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees and professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
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| University of Chicago: SEIU Certified to Represent Adjunct Faculty Unit |
University of Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-162896
On December 9, 2015, NLRB Region 13 conducted a tally of mail ballots in a representation case filed by a SEIU seeking to represent adjunct faculty at the University of Chicago. Of the 169 eligible faculty members, 96 voted in favor of representation, 22 voted against with 7 ballots challenged and one ballot voided. As a result of the election, the NLRB certified SEIU on December 17, 2015 to represent the adjunct faculty bargaining unit at the University of Chicago.
The following is a listing of the faculty included in and excluded from the voting unit:
Voting Unit:
Including: All full-time and part-time graduate and undergraduate non-tenure-track academic appointees, including the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer responsible for Marathi Language Program, the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer with the lead role in the Practicum in the undergraduate Public Policy Program, the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer responsilbe for the Persian Language Program, the non supervisory Senior Lecturer responsible for career advising and the coordination of internships in the MAPSS Program, the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer responsible for the applied mathematics component of the undergraduate Biolory Program, the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer responsible for Ecology and Evolution Programs for undergraduates not majoring in biology, the non supervisory Senior Lecturer in the Yiddish Language Program, and the non-supervisory Senior Lecturer responsible for the introductory and compensated directly by the University of Chicago at it Main campus at 5801 South Ellis Avenue, the School of Social Service Administration at 969 East 60th Street, the Divinity School at Swift Hall, 1025 East 58th Street, the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at 1155 East 60th Street and who are currently teaching at least one credit-bearing course(excuding hybrid and blended courses) in a dergee-granting program.
Excluding: All tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, distinguished service faculty, research associates with or without parenthetical rank who are not teaching credit bearing courses, and emeritus faculty, all faculty in non-degree granting programs; all faculty teaching at locations other than the facilities or addresses described above; all faculty teaching online courses only; employees who do not teach undergraduate or graduate level credit-earning courses or labs; L. E. Dickson Instructors in the Department of Mathematics; Members of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts holding the academic rank of Collegiate Assistant Professor; Senior Lecturers other than those expressly included above; instructors in the Business Math and Computer Science masters programs; the Pritzker School of Medicine faculty not tenured or on the tenure track; the Graham School of Continuing Liberal Arts and Professional Studies appointees; the Booth School of Business appointees; the Law School appointees; the Urban Teacher Institute and Urban Teacher Education Program appointees; appointees paid by entities other than the University of Chicago (including governments and organizations), instructors who are employed by national laboratories managed by the University of Chicago, including Argonne Laboratory, Fermi Laboratory and instructors who are employed by the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA (an affiliate of the University of Chicago); all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); graduate students including those teaching courses in addition to a stipend; athletic coaches; all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching; curators; and managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
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| University of Chicago: Collegiate Assistant Professors Vote to Unionize |
University of Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-164309
On November 17, 2015, SEIU filed a representation petition seeking to be certified as the representative of a bargaining unit composed of Collegiate Assistant Professors at the University of Chicago.
On December 16, 2015, the NLRB Region 13 office conducted a tally of mail ballots concerning the following voting unit:
Included: All Collegiate Assistant Professors, also known as Harper-Schmidt Fellows, employed by the University of Chicago. Excluded: All full-time and part-time graduate and undergraduate academic appointees; all tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, distinguished service faculty, research associates with or without parenthetical rank who are not teaching credit bearing courses, and emeritus faculty, all faculty in non-degree granting programs; all faculty teaching at locations other than the main campus; all faculty teaching online courses only; employees who do not teach undergraduate or graduate level credit-earning courses or labs; L. E. Dickson Instructors in the Department of Mathematics; instructors in the Financial Math and Computer Science masters programs; the Pritzker School of Medicine faculty not tenured or on the tenure track; the Graham School of Continuing Liberal Arts and Professional Studies appointees; the Booth School of Business appointees; the Law School appointees; the Urban Teacher Institute and Urban Teacher Education Program appointees; appointees paid by entities other than the University of Chicago (including governments and organizations), instructors who are employed by national laboratories managed by the University of Chicago, including Argonne Laboratory, Fermi Laboratory and instructors who are employed by the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA (an affiliate of the University of Chicago); all administrators (including deans, directors, provosts, and chairs who may have teaching assignments); graduate students including those teaching courses in addition to a stipend; athletic coaches; all other employees employed by the University, including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching; curators; and managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Of the 34 faculty eligible to vote in the election, 19 voted in favor of unionization and 13 voted against representation. As a result of the election, the NLRB certified SEIU on December 28, 2015 to represent the bargaining unit of Collegiate Assistant Professors at the University of Chicago.
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Brandeis University: SEIU Certified to Represent Adjunct Faculty Unit
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Brandeis University, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-163352
Following a mail ballot election, SEIU was certified by the NLRB on December 29, 2015 to be the exclusive representative of an adjunct faculty unit at Brandeis University. Of the 299 faculty members eligible to vote, 120 voted in favor of SEIU representation, 28 voted against unionization, and 9 ballots were challenged. The following is the description of the certified adjunct faculty unit at Brandeis University:
All graduate and undergraduate non-tenure track faculty in the below-listed classifications employed by Brandeis University who are contracted to teach at least one credit-bearing or non-credit bearing course (including online, hybrid and blended courses and including Spring, Summer and Fall courses) at the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate College of Arts & Sciences, the International Business School, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, the Rabb School of Continuing Studies, English Language Programs, Gateway Scholars Programs, Summer Courses, or Justice Brandeis Semester, or who are contracted to teach courses in the Transitional Year Program. Adjuncts Assistant Adjunct Professors Associate Adjunct Professors Adjunct Associate Professors Adjunct Lecturers Adjunct Professors Adjunct Associate Professors of the Practice Instructors Senior instructors Lecturers Senior Lecturers Part-time Fellows In-residence Writers, Poets, and Artists Research Professors Associate Research Professors Assistant Research Professors Professors, Assistant Professors and Associate Professors Outside the Tenure Structure Professors and Associate Professors of the Practice who are not on multi-year contracts Graduate Students who teach courses beyond their stipend and are compensated on a per-course basis. An employee working for the University in another capacity who also teaches a class or course identified above and is compensated on a per course basis is included within the unit, unless the employee is expressly excluded. But excluding: All full-time, salaried faculty; all faculty within the Tenure Structure; visiting faculty; all professors and associate professors of the practice on multi-year contracts; emeritus/a faculty; full-time fellows including Joshua A. Guberman, Kay, and Senior; University Prize Instructors who do not teach any other courses compensated on a per-course basis that is beyond their stipends; all employees who teach only Osher Lifelong Learning Institute courses, Justice Brandeis semester, English Language Program courses, Gateway Scholars Program courses, physical education courses, high school program courses, Summer Music Workshops, Summer Courses, and/or non-credit bearing courses; deans; provosts, associate provosts and assistant provosts; administrators; department chairs; full-time employees who teach courses and do not receive compensation beyond their salary for doing so; graduate students who teach only courses pursuant to a stipend; athletic coaches; all other employees, managers, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act. |
Emerson College: AAUP Certified to Represent LA Part-Time Faculty
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Emerson College, NLRB Case No. 31-RC-162979
On December 11, 2015, NLRB Region 31 conducted a tally of ballots in an election among Emerson College part-time faculty in Los Angeles. Of the 26 eligible faculty members, 16 voted in favor of AAUP representation, and none voted against. The following is a description of the certified unit:
Included: All part-time faculty who teach credit earning courses in the undergraduate program during the academic year. Excluded: All other employees, full time faculty, graduate students, lab assistants, graduate assistants, teaching associates, clinical fellows, teaching fellows, teaching assistants, research assistants, full-time or part-time staff or administrators, whether or not they also have teaching responsibilities, deans, registrars, librarians, volunteers, Emerson faculty who teach outside of the Los Angeles Campus, faculty in residence, visiting Boston faculty in residence, professional studies instructors, graduate and post graduate instructors, summer term faculty, teaching on-line courses (regardless of location), the Assistant Director of Experiential Learning, and the Founding Director and Vice President, other represented employees, clerical employees, managers, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
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NYU Tandon School of Engineering: UAW Certified to Represent the Adjunct Faculty Bargaining Unit
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NYU Tandon School of Engineering (NYU Polytechnic),
NLRB Case No. 29-RC-163860
The UAW filed a representation petition on November 10, 2015 with the NLRB Region 29 office seeking to represent an adjunct faculty unit at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. A mail ballot election was conducted, with the ballots tallied on December 21, 2015 concerning the following bargaining unit:
Included: All Adjunct Instructors, Adjunct Professors, and part-time faculty employed by the employer at the Metrotech Center campus in Brooklyn, New York who provide either (1) a total of 40 contact hours of instruction in one or more courses during an academic year (i.e., September 1 through August 31) or (2) a total of 75 contact hours of individual instruction or tutoring during a semester.
Excluded: All full-time faculty, including tenured, tenure track and non-tenure track faculty; graduate student employees who have not completed seven years of study in a Ph.D program at NYU; research assistants; writing center instructors/tutors; undergraduate students; and all other employees including Visiting Professors, Visiting Associate Professors, Visiting Assistant Professors, confidential employees, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
The ballot tally took place on December 21, 2015. Of the 127 faculty members eligible to vote, 113 voted in favor of UAW representation, 14 voted against unionization and 7 ballots were challenged.
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Carroll College: Representation Sought for a Combined Bargaining Unit of Tenured, Tenure Track and Non-Tenured Faculty
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Carroll College, NLRB Case No. 19-RC-165133
On December 1, 2015, a representation petition was filed by Associated Faculty of Carroll College, MEA-MFT, NEA, AFT, AFL-CIO with NLRB Region 19 seeking to represent a bargaining unit of approximately 97 tenured faculty at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. A hearing concerning the representation petition has been completed, and post-hearing briefs were submitted on December 22, 2015.
While it is unclear what specific issues are being administratively litigated, it is probable that the school is claiming that the tenured faculty are managerial under Yeshiva University v. NLRB, 444 U.S. 672 (1980), and/or that the NLRB should decline jurisdiction because the school is religiously-affiliated. According to Carroll College's website, it is a private, Catholic, liberal arts college. This representation case might result in the first decision applying the modified criteria for managerial status set forth in Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014) to tenured and tenure-track faculty at a private institution.
The following is the proposed unit sought in the representation petition at Carroll College:
Included: Tenured teaching faculty with teaching loads of .5FTE or above; tenure track teaching faculty with teaching loads of .5FTE or above; non-tenure track teaching faculty with teaching loads of .5FTE or above.
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| Tufts University School of Medicine: Tenure-Track Faculty Seek SEIU Representation |
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Tufts University School of Medicine, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-166588
On December 22, 2015, SEIU filed a representation petition with NLRB Region 1 seeking to represent a bargaining unit of approximately 70 tenured and tenure-track faculty including assistant professors, associate professors, and other employees at Tufts University School of Medicine. It is probable that this representation petition will result in the first case applying the modified standards for managerial status under Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014) to tenure-track faculty at an academic medical center.
The subject of collective bargaining at medical centers will be examined by a panel at the National Center's 2016 annual conference:
Collective Bargaining at Academic Medical Centers with Karen Stubaus, Vice President, Academic Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University, Ilyssa DeCasperis, AAUP-Biomedical Health Sciences of New Jersey, Rutgers University, John Vander Weg, Wayne State University Associate Provost for Academic Personnel, and Diomedes Tsitouras, Executive Director, University of Connecticut Health Center AAUP with moderator Ray Dannenhofter, Buffalo Health Services Center, UUP Chapter President.
In related news, the New York Times recently published an article about the increased efforts by physicians to unionize.
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| Wells College: SEIU Files Petition to Represent Adjunct Faculty Unit |
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Wells College, NLRB Case 03-RC-166366
On December 21, 2015, SEIU filed a representation petition with NLRB Region 3 seeking to represent 60 adjunct faculty at Wells College in Aurora, New York. The petition seeks the certification of SEIU as the representative of the following proposed bargaining unit:
Included: All non-tenured and non-tenure track faculty, including but not limited to those with the titles Lecturer, Visiting Lecturer, Visiting Assistant Professor, and Instructor who have taught at least one-credit hour since the beginning of the fall 2015 semester. Excluded: Managerial Employees (including Head Coaches and Head Athletic Trainers), confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act, and tenured and tenure-track faculty, deans (including associate and assistant deans), provosts, and department chairs.
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| Loyola University Chicago: Maintenance Workers Seek to Unionize |
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On January 6, 2016, a representation petition was filed by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 with NLRB Region 13 seeking to represent the following proposed bargaining unit of approximately 23 employees at Loyola University Chicago:
All full-time and regular part-time skilled maintenance employees working for Loyola University Chicago Lake Shore Campus, located at 6525 N Sheridan Rd Chicago, IL 60660, Loyola University at the Health Science 2160 S First St, Maywood IL 60153 and Loyola University - Chicago Water Tower Campus 820 N Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60611 Excluded: Office clerical, professional employees, mangers, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.
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UAW Files to Represent Goddard Administrative and Clerical Staff
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On January 8, 2016, the UAW filed a representation petition with NLRB Region 3 seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 70 full-time and regular part-time administrative, clerical, technical, maintenance and service employees at Goddard College.
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The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy
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The National Center's Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy (JCBA) is our peer review on-line journal. It is co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University, and Steve Hicks, Associate Professor of English, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. The journal is hosted by the institutional repository of Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University.
The purposes of the journal are to advance research and scholarly thought related to academic collective bargaining, and to make relevant and pragmatic peer-reviewed research readily accessible to practitioners and to scholars in the field. Submissions are encouraged from a wide community of scholars and practitioners including, but not limited to, college and university professors, graduate students, administrators, union leaders, and others with an interest in collective bargaining in the academy.
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National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions
425 E 25th St.
Box 615
New York, NY 10010
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Copyright � 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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