Catherwood LibraryILR School

Several labor unions including the SEIU, UAW, Unite Here, and the American Federation of Teachers announced this week that they are working together on an initiative to persuade private colleges and universities to bargain collectively with graduate student workers. Despite the NLRB’s 2016 Columbia University decision that expanded the definition of “employee” to include graduate student workers, several private universities have refused to collectively bargain with elected unions. Recently, some unions have been withdrawing their petitions pending before the labor board to avoid being denied by the current Republican-controlled NLRB. In-line with the new initiative, graduate students at several universities including University of Chicago, Yale, Boston College, and others delivered letters to their administrations urging them to begin the collective bargaining process.