Posts tagged universities
Commentary: Ivy Leaguers Aren’t Auto Workers
July 21, 2025 // In general, NLRB decisions are fake law made by fake judges who have to interpret a poorly written statute from 90 years ago that is based on assumptions about industrial organization that no longer obtain in the United States. But the NLRB remains powerful nonetheless, and its decisions matter. That’s why Russell Burgett, a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, which is private, is asking the NLRB to overturn the 2016 Columbia ruling. He isn’t a member of the Cornell graduate students’ union, a UE affiliate, and he said in charges filed with the NLRB on Monday that his choice not to join makes it harder for him to complete his education.
Michigan lawmakers introduce state bills paving way for college athletes to unionize
July 10, 2025 // Since July 1, student-athletes must disclose any NIL deals made outside the university worth more than $600 to a new third-party entity called "NIL Go." The NCAA says this ensures both sides are getting a fair value, but Rep. Joe Tate says otherwise. "We want to be clear to make sure that no entity is allowed to interrupt a student-athlete's ability to enter into a contract," said Tate, D-Detroit. "Then they don't have to submit a contract to the NCAA for approval. If you're going to a university in Michigan, it restricts them from doing that."
CA Public Employees and Unions Whining about Returning to the Office 5 Years Later
April 29, 2025 // Gavin Newsom created this mess. He sent state employees home when he locked the state down March 2020 ostensibly over a flu. And he let state employees work from home for 5 years. Many have done well, and are accountable employees, But many more are not, and need supervision and accountability. President Trump’s back-to-the-office order and hiring freeze has elicited a lot of kvetching in D.C., but is designed to suss out the deadwood in the federal government – something Governor Newsom should also be doing, figuratively and literally.
Five years after failed vote, Pitt grad students unionize
November 30, 2024 // From 2021 to 2023, nearly 64,000 U.S. grad student workers joined unions. By comparison, only 20,394 students unionized from 2013 through 2020. Today, four in 10 grad student employees belong to labor groups. This trend was, experts say, driven in part by the pandemic and by the administration change from Donald Trump to Joe Biden in 2021, which ushered in a National Labor Relations Board more amenable to organizers.
Canvassers respond to anti-Semitic demonstrations at UCLA
October 18, 2024 // While we are always looking to be respectful and informative, our canvassers have also been met with extremely vulgar attacks from none other than AFSMCE 3299 shop stewards. Just yesterday the pair was castigated for simply handing out literature and trying to engage with workers in front of the medical center. Profanities and threats of attacks were met with a polite, yet bold, resistance.
Opposition to unionization of college athletes
March 14, 2024 // Few adults have an opinion either favorable (14%) or unfavorable (18%) of the NCAA. Most say they don’t know enough about the organization that regulates collegiate athletics to have an opinion (46%) or have neither a favorable nor unfavorable view (23%). The nationwide poll was conducted February 22-26, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,102 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.1 percentage points.
El Milagro workers cite gains, but why is no union involved?
August 1, 2023 // For around two years, workers at the tortilla manufacturer have waged a brave campaign for higher wages and better treatment. With help from the advocacy group Arise Chicago, they have had news conferences and briefly walked off the production lines to make their case. They also hauled the company before the National Labor Relations Board. And they have cited victories, including a wage increase, an end to illegal seven-day workweeks and other improvements. But it has all happened without the discernible involvement of a labor union. El Milagro would seem a worthy target for a union drive. It has about 450 employees and has been in business for decades. But one union leader, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss sensitive issues, said organizers may see it as a low-margin business with lots of competition.
Film Forum Workers Vote to Unionize in NLRB Election
June 21, 2022 // Full and part-time staffers who work in the theater, in programming, publicity, facilities and administration participated in the vote. According to the union, employees hope unionizing will improve compensation, change organizational development practices and standardize work conditions for workers across departments. The union adds that workers’ experience throughout the pandemic with furloughs and health and safety concerns helped spur their unionization attempt. Chad Bolton, Claudia Francois, Stephanie Gross, sustainable workplace, Alamo Drafthouse theater, Anthology Film Archives, Film at Lincoln Center,
BERNIE SANDERS WANTS DEMOCRATS TO MAKE UNIONS THEIR BIGGEST MESSAGE
May 4, 2022 // He said his team has maintained “a nucleus of the campaign,” roughly 10 staffers, who are heavily focused on supporting labor efforts, connecting with workers at a variety of the flash points of unionization, including at companies like John Deere and Kellogg’s and universities across the country where poorly paid adjunct faculty are organizing.