Catherwood LibraryILR School

The decade-long debate about the employment status or lack thereof of university graduate students may be coming to a close with the NLRB preparing to rule on a petition started by Columbia University graduate students claiming that they should have the right to unionize. Graduate students have made a claim to the same rights and opportunities traditionally-defined employees covered under the NLRA have in terms of union organization, stating that they provide essential services in the interest of their employers, in this case the educational institutions where they study and work. Meanwhile, universities have vehemently denied that graduate students are their employees, claiming that the work these students do pertains exclusively to their studies and serves as an educational experience, not employment. The liberal-leaning NLRB is expected to weigh more in favor of students pushing for the right to organize than in favor of private universities.