NLRB Accepts Columbia TA Union Case

The National Labor Relations Board in December agreed to consider whether graduate students at Columbia University are entitled to unionize. The NLRB in October agreed to address the issue with respect to a bid by graduate students at the New School to unionize. Collective bargaining rights at public universities are governed by state law, and many public universities as a result have teaching assistant unions. The NLRB has gone back and forth on the issue with respect to private universities, but the current precedent bars collective bargaining. The petitions from graduate students at both the New School and Columbia seek to reverse that ruling, while the universities would like to maintain the ruling.