It's about time to bring back TA unions
WSN Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Staff Editorial
In a stunning move, Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D-Mass.) has added what could turn out to be a new chapter in NYU's colorful history with unions. Kennedy and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) have proposed legislation in Congress that would allow teaching assistants at private universities to unionize.
In 2004, the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board reversed a 2000 decision that considered graduate assistants as statutory "employees" under the National Labor Relations Act. At the time of the 2004 reversal, graduate students were teaching classes under contract negotiated by the Graduate Student Organizing Committee. The contract made provisions for a health care plan, increased stipends and created a third-party arbitration procedure for economic disputes.
When the NLRB ruled that graduate assistants were no longer "employees" in 2004, NYU decided to no longer recognize GSOC. This touched off the infamous graduate student strike of the 2005-06 academic year. It was a year marked by classes that were held off-campus or canceled outright, deans who surreptitiously infiltrated Blackboard and the dreaded "incompletes" dotting many student transcripts.
Now, their cause might be redeemed with lasting legislation.
Called the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act, the bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to unambiguously include teaching and research assistants at private educational institutions in the definition of "employee."
Unions in America, as of late, have atrophied. It is almost fitting for NYU to be on the cutting edge of reshaping the role of unions. After all, we should never forget the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
What is today NYU's Brown Building was the site of the largest industrial disaster of its time. The horrors of that fire, which resulted in the death of 148 garment workers, have since been seared into the rationale for unions. While a fire ravaged the building, doors were locked to keep the workers in. Unions now stand against such practices and for fire safety and a healthier work environment.
Now it seems that those who walk the halls of Congress are heeding the calls of our strikers. NYU's GSOC, despite President John Sexton, has paved the way for another labor victory.
We heartily welcome Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Miller's legislation. If passed, it will mark a much-needed change in how the university manages its employees by redefining who those employees are. It would make a great reason for those "incompletes" some of us received in fall 2005.
In 2004, the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board reversed a 2000 decision that considered graduate assistants as statutory "employees" under the National Labor Relations Act. At the time of the 2004 reversal, graduate students were teaching classes under contract negotiated by the Graduate Student Organizing Committee. The contract made provisions for a health care plan, increased stipends and created a third-party arbitration procedure for economic disputes.
When the NLRB ruled that graduate assistants were no longer "employees" in 2004, NYU decided to no longer recognize GSOC. This touched off the infamous graduate student strike of the 2005-06 academic year. It was a year marked by classes that were held off-campus or canceled outright, deans who surreptitiously infiltrated Blackboard and the dreaded "incompletes" dotting many student transcripts.
Now, their cause might be redeemed with lasting legislation.
Called the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act, the bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to unambiguously include teaching and research assistants at private educational institutions in the definition of "employee."
Unions in America, as of late, have atrophied. It is almost fitting for NYU to be on the cutting edge of reshaping the role of unions. After all, we should never forget the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
What is today NYU's Brown Building was the site of the largest industrial disaster of its time. The horrors of that fire, which resulted in the death of 148 garment workers, have since been seared into the rationale for unions. While a fire ravaged the building, doors were locked to keep the workers in. Unions now stand against such practices and for fire safety and a healthier work environment.
Now it seems that those who walk the halls of Congress are heeding the calls of our strikers. NYU's GSOC, despite President John Sexton, has paved the way for another labor victory.
We heartily welcome Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Miller's legislation. If passed, it will mark a much-needed change in how the university manages its employees by redefining who those employees are. It would make a great reason for those "incompletes" some of us received in fall 2005.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Scott
posted 4/24/08 @ 4:59 PM EST
I've got a 2 and a half year old thread of unanswered e-mail messages to Hillary Clinton's offices asking her what she's done or is doing to assist workers, including Teaching Assistant in her own back yard at NYU, to organize on the job and win a union contract. (Continued…)
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