Catherwood LibraryILR School

Georgetown University administrators agreed to allow graduate students to vote this spring on joining the American Federation of Teachers union; the agreement allows the students to proceed without the involvement of the National Labor Relations Board. While a 2016 NLRB ruling grants teaching and research assistants the legal protection to unionize, there had been concern that a partisan shift of the NLRB would overturn the ruling. The university’s decision signals an acceptance towards graduate students being able to participate in collective bargaining regardless of what the NLRB decides. Previously, the university had refused to support unionization attempts under the rationale that the work students did was part of their education, and that they were not employees. The Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees proposed that the election could be administered by a neutral third party rather than the NLRB, which the university on Monday agreed to. The university would also consider proposals on wages, benefits, leave policies and hours of work should the election decide in favor of a bargaining unit.