NLRB Rejects Religious Exemption for Duquesne

The Pittsburgh office of the National Labor Relations Board on Monday rejected a request by Duquesne University to block a vote by adjuncts on whether to unionize, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Duquesne, a Roman Catholic university, argued that its religious affiliation should exempt it from a union election. But the NLRB noted that Duquesne had agreed to a union vote just weeks earlier, and that long-established NLRB policy bars parties from opting out of an election they have agreed to barring truly unusual circumstances.