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Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 371, March 2014

Case No 2547 (United States of America) - Complaint date: 26-FEB-07 - Closed

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  1. 54. The Committee last examined this case – which concerns a decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) denying graduate teaching and research assistants at private universities the right, under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), to engage in organizing or collective bargaining – at its March 2010 meeting [see 356th Report, paras 73–75]. On that occasion, the Committee requested the Government to keep it informed of progress made with regard to any further developments at the NLRB in relation to the freedom of association and collective bargaining rights of graduate teaching and research assistants, as well as any additional steps taken in the United States Congress as concerns the matter of the introduction of bills in the United States Congress to overrule the NLRB’s decision by adding language to the definition of “employee” under the NLRA to include “a student enrolled at an institution of higher education … who is performing work for remuneration at the direction of the institution, whether or not the work relates to the student’s course of study”.
  2. 55. In its communication of 11 October 2012, the Government indicates that as reported in the previous update, the issue central to the case, Brown University, 342 NLRB 483 (2004) (Brown University), was being revisited. On 25 October 2010, the NLRB (or Board) reversed a regional director’s dismissal of a petition filed by a local of the United Auto Workers seeking a representation election for 1,800 graduate teaching and research assistants at New York University, New York University and GSOC/UAW, 356 NLRB No. 7 (2010) (New York University). The dismissal was based on the Brown University decision where the NLRB held that graduate student assistants at another university were not employees within the meaning of the NLRA (the Act). In reversing the Regional Director’s dismissal, the Board stated that there were “compelling reasons for reconsideration of the decision in Brown”, and remanded the case to the Regional Director for a hearing and development of a “full evidentiary record”.
  3. 56. The Government adds that in a decision issued on 16 June 2011, Mr Elbert Tellem, then Acting Regional Director for NLRB Region 2, dismissed the petition on the ground that the unit sought is composed of graduate student assistants who, under the Brown University decision, are not treated as employees for purposes of collective bargaining under section 2(3) of the Act, New York University and GSOC/UAW, NLRB Acting Regional Director, Case No. 2-RC-23481 of 16 June 2011. However, the ruler wrote that the Board majority in Brown University was “premised on a university setting as it existed thirty years ago”. With regard to the New York University graduate assistants, Mr Tellem noted that “the graduates have a dual relationship with the employer which does not necessarily preclude a finding of employee status”. Additionally, the Government reports that Mr Tellem stated that “in the event the Board reconsiders the employee status of graduate students, it appears on this record that a unit including all graduate students would be appropriate”.
  4. 57. The Government states that on 30 June 2011, the Petitioner in New York University filed a request for review urging the Board to overrule its decision in Brown University. The Employer filed an opposition to the petitioner’s request for review on 14 July 2011. On 3 February 2012, a group of New York University teaching, research and graduate assistants travelled to Washington, DC, to deliver a letter to the NLRB requesting that the Board move quickly to reach a decision. On 22 June 2012, the Board granted review in New York University and in another similar matter, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Case No. 29-RC-12054. The Board also invited the parties and interested amici to file briefs addressing four questions, including whether the Board should modify or overrule its decision in Brown University, 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 Act. Briefs were to be filed with the Board on or before 23 July 2012.
  5. 58. The Committee takes note of this information. The Committee also notes that on 26 November 2013, a joint statement was published between New York University and the union United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union (UAW), which concludes that both parties have mutually agreed to withdraw the NLRB proceedings and have reached a voluntary agreement in which they are committed to bargain in good faith for a contract upon confirmation of a majority vote by graduate employees for UAW representation in collective bargaining. The Committee welcomes this information. Noting, however, that the decision of the NLRB in Brown University still excludes graduate students from collective bargaining rights set out in the NLRA, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any additional steps taken or envisaged to ensure that graduate teaching and research assistants, in their capacity as workers, are not excluded from the protection of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
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