NLRB: Graduate Students at Private Universities May Unionize

The article, “NLRB: Graduate Students at Private Universities May Unionize,” featured in Inside Higher Ed, focused on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ruling Tuesday that graduate research and teaching assistants are entitled to collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act.

Joe Ambash assessed the NLRB’s decision.

Joe said in an interview Tuesday that the NLRB’s decision was reckless in scope.

“The NLRB basically identified any student -- whether an undergraduate or master’s or Ph.D. candidate -- at any private-sector institution as an employee so long as that student provides some institutional service for which they receive some form of compensation,” Joe said. “The sweep of this decision is so broad that it’s really likely to transform many, many academic institutions into, quote, workplaces.” Regarding the research assistant determination, he added, “this is the first time universities are going to have to collectively bargain about curriculum requirements.”

To read the full article, please visit Inside Higher Ed.