Seeking to overturn long-standing precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) recently agreed to review whether graduate students who work as teaching or research assistants at universities are “employees” for purposes of voting for a union. The United Auto Workers (UAW) is seeking to represent student employees at The New School, a not-for-profit operator of higher education institutions in New York. Like a dog with a bone, the current NLRB is unwilling to give up on finding coverage for grad student assistants, despite two rejections of the representation petition by the Regional Director. 

Is It Work or Educational? 

The UAW petitioned to represent all student employees who provide teaching or research services at The New School. The proposed bargaining unit includes teaching assistants, fellows and tutors, as well as research assistants and associates. 

The facts related to these positions are as follows: 

• About 350 individuals work in the proposed bargaining unit

• The positions typically require between 10 and 20 hours of work per week

• Each graduate assistant position typically lasts for one 15-week semester, but many graduate assistants are renewed for multiple semesters

• The New School provides approximately $5 million annually to grad students in these positions

• Each faculty member is allotted up to $5,100 per year to be used for student assistants

• Teaching assistants are paid $4,500 per semester; teaching fellows receive $5,500 per semester, and tutors are paid an hourly rate, typically $17.00 per hour

• Research associates can receive stipends of up to $40,000 per year due to grants from the federal government

• Graduate assistants must provide I-9 forms to be eligible for the positions

• Payments to the graduate assistants are made through a payroll account and taxes are withheld

• Payments are disbursed biweekly but do not vary based on the number of hours worked (except for tutors)

• Graduate assistants are not required to track, and the university does not monitor the amount of time spent on their duties

• Applicants for these positions must maintain a minimum GPA

• Some are selected using a formal process of interviews and appointment letters from the Human Resources department while others are offered positions more informally directly from a professor

• Selection for the position is not dependent on financial need 

When the UAW first petitioned to represent this group of student employees in December 2014, the Regional Director for the New York region dismissed the petition based on the NLRB’s 2004 decision inBrown University, which held that graduate student assistants were not “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act, and therefore, could not be unionized. The 2004 Board had decided that the graduate assistants had a primarily academic relationship with their school, not an economic, work-related one. Case closed, right? Wrong. 

Will Graduate Assistant Precedent Be Overturned? 

In March 2015, the Board reviewed the initial dismissal of the petition and sent it back to the region for a hearing. The Hearing Officer heard testimony and received evidence during a seven-day hearing, but in late July, the Regional Director found that Brown University still controlled, and dismissed the petition again. 

The UAW requested (again) that the Board review the dismissal of its representation petition. On October 21, 2015, on a 3-1 vote, the Board granted the request for review, finding that it “raises substantial issues warranting review.” 

The vote goes along political lines, with the three democratic members voting to review the graduate assistant issue and the sole republican member dissenting. (Note: the Board is currently short one member.) In his dissent, member Philip Miscimarra wrote that the sole basis for the UAW to seek review is its desire to have the Board overrule Brown University. Miscimarra believes there is no reason to overturn Brown University, pointing, in part, to the prevailing view for more than 40 years that graduate student assistants are not statutory employees, except for a four-year period from 2000-2004 when the ruling flip-flopped in favor of finding they were employees. 

Is another flip-flop likely? It very well could be, given that the current majority of the Board continues to look to expand the reach of the NLRA. But even if the Board should find that graduate student assistants are statutory employees, it will need to address an argument by The New School that they are “casual” or “temporary” employees which would still deny them union representation. 

We will continue to follow this case and pass along any developments as they occur.