NATIONAL CENTER
for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions
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Follow Us on Twitter @HigherEd_CB for News from Around the Country
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November 2019
Happy Thanksgiving from the National Center
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Welcome to the latest issue of the National Center's monthly newsletter.
T
his month's newsletter includes programming and registration information about our upcoming regional conference at California State University, Long Beach on December 6-7, 2019.
The newsletter also includes early registration information for our 2020 annual conference in New York City on March 29-31, 2020, along with a listing of some of the panels lined up for the annual conference, and the conference's new location: NYC Seminar & Conference Center, 46 West 24th Street, NY, NY 10010 (right off of 6th Avenue).
Below are research-based stories concerning collective bargaining and unionization in higher education and the professions including a report on the National Center's comments to the NLRB about the proposed rule to exclude graduate assistants and other student employees from coverage under federal labor law, along with links to other recent National Center research.
The newsletter also reports on the newest bargaining units of department chairs and interns and residents, along with stories about a Maryland state appellate court decision refusing to compel the arbitration of a grievance over faculty wages, a decision by the California Public Employment Relations Board to deny a request for injunctive relief against planned campus strikes, information about a new online tool for tracking strike threats, organizing by yoga instructors and ballet dancers, and much much more.
As always, if you have comments or story ideas please
email us or contact us via Twitter.
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California Regional Conference, December 6-7, CSU Long Beach
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Regional Conference on Higher Education
Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
On December 6-7, 2019, t
he National Center will be holding a regional conference at California State University, Long Beach.
Keynote Speaker
:
Ruben J. Garcia
,
Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Workplace Law Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law.
Professor Garcia is a specialist in labor and employment law, law and social change, immigration policy, and international human rights law.
Below is a list of regional conference panels:
Plenary: Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education with Frazier Benya, Senior Program Officer, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Sharon Inkelas, Special Faculty Advisor to the Chancellor on Sexual Violence/Sexual Harassment, University of California, Berkeley,
Ana Avendano, President, Minga Strategies and former Assistant to the AFL-CIO President, and Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, Moderator.
Do Adjunct Faculty Have Academic Freedom? with Kristen Edwards, Lecturer in History and Political Science, Notre Dame du Namur University and Stanford University Continuing Studies, Deirdre Frontczak, Lecturer and member, Faculty Council at Santa Rosa Junior College, Edward Inch, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, California State University, East Bay, and Henry Reichman, Chair AAUP Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, Professor Emeritus of History, California State University, East Bay, and author of
The Future of Academic Freedom
, Panelist and Moderator.
Best Practices in Investigating and Responding to Disciplinary Issues with V. Jesse Smith, Representation Specialist, California Faculty Association, Missy A. Matella,
Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations
, University of Oregon, and Andrea Dooley, Arbitrator, and Kenneth Mash, President, APSCUF, Moderator.
Community Colleges: Student Centered Funding Formula and Reemployment Preferences for Part-Time Faculty with Eric Kaljumagi, President, Community College Association, Kindred Murillo, Superintendent/President, Southwestern College, Leticia Pastrana, Imperial Valley College, and
Bill Scroggins,
President/CEO Mt. San Antonio College, Panelist and
Moderator.
Academic Workers and Immigration Status with Sandip Roy, President, UAW Local 4123, Alli Carlisle, Chief Negotiator, UAW Local 2865, Joseph J. Jelincic III, Senior Manager of Systemwide Labor Relations/Collective Bargaining Specialist, California State University, Natasha Baker,
Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP, and Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Moderator.
The Old Wolf, Again: Latinx Faculty Negotiations, Recruitment, Retention, and Racism in the Academy with Martha Garcia, President, Imperial Valley Community College, John Halcon, Member, Board of Trustees, Palomar Community College, Jose Cintron, California State University Sacramento, and Theresa Montaño, California State University Northridge, California Faculty Association, Moderator.
Collective Bargaining in the Post-Janus Age with J. Felix De La Torre, General Counsel, California Public Employment Relations Board, Kerianne Steele, Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld, and Timothy G. Yeung, Sloan Sakai Yeung Wong LLP.
Best Practices in Preparing for Bargaining Impasses
with
John Swarbrick, Former Associate Vice Chancellor, Labor and Employee Relations, California State University, Brian Young, Senior Labor Relations Representative, California State University Employees Union, Jackson E. Parham, Attorney, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, Carolyn Richie, Field Representative, California Federation of Teachers, Douglas W. Otto, Attorney at Law and Trustee, Long Beach City College, Valerie Hollins, Senior Labor Relations Representative, California School Employees Association, and Loretta van der Pol, Director, California State Mediation and Conciliation Service, Moderator.
Bargaining for the Common Good in Higher Education with
Mia McIver, President, University Council, AFT, Peter Chester, Executive Director, Labor Relations, University of California, Will Surbrook, Vice Chancellor, Human Resources, San Diego Community College District, Jamie McDole, President, UPTE-CWA,
and Theodore Curry, Associate Provost, Associate Vice President, Michigan State University, Moderator.
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2020 Annual National Conference: Early Bird Registration Discount
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Early registration has begun for the National Center's 47th annual conference on March 29-31, 2020. Register now and receive an early bird discount.
The discount ends on January 6, 2020.
The National Center is pleased to announce the
new location for our 2020 conference. The conference will be held at the NYC Seminar & Conference Center. The center is located at
46 West 24th Street, NY, NY 10010 (right off of 6th Avenue).
The conference will not be held at the CUNY Graduate Center due to construction.
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National Center's 2020 Annual Conference Program Agenda
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The Center is pleased to announce some of the confirmed panels that we have lined up for our 47th Annual National Conference on March 29-31, 2020. Additional panels and workshops will be announced in future newsletters.
Plenary: The Student Debt Crisis: History, Consequences, and Solutions
with Martha J. Kanter, Executive Director, College Promise Campaign, Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, Associate Professor, Loyola University Chicago, Caitlin Zaloom, Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, and Julie Margetta Morgan, The Great Democracy Initiative.
Panel: The Equal Rights Amendment and Higher Education
with
Julie Suk, Dean for Master’s Programs and Professor, Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, Jessica Neuwirth, Distinguished Lecturer and Rita E. Hauser Director, Human Rights Program, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, CUNY, Elizabeth Schneider, Rose L. Hoffer Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School, and Carol Robles-Román, General Counsel and Dean of Faculty, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator.
Panel: Contingent Faculty, Job Security, and Academic Freedom
with Carl Levine, Levy Ratner P.C.,
Keila Tennant, Associate General Counsel and VP for Labor Relations, The New School, S
onam Singh, former Unit Chair, BCF-UAW Local 2110, and Barry Miller, Senior Policy Advisor on Labour Relations, Office of the Provost, York University, Moderator.
Panel: Addressing Cultural Taxation of Faculty through Bargaining and Education
with
Cecil Canton Professor Emeritus, CSU Sacramento,
Margarita Berta-Ávila, Professor, CSU Sacramento and CFA Associate Vice President
,
Aimee Shreck CFA Director of Research and Communications, Anthony Browne
, Chair, Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies, Hunter College, CUNY, and Kathy Sheffield, CFA Director of Representation, Moderator.
Panel: Collective Bargaining of Transgender Issues
with Barbara J. Diamond, Diamond Law, Portland, Oregon, Mellissa Sortman, Director of Academic Human Resources, Michigan State University, Elizabeth S. Hough, Counsel to the President, United University Professions, and Elizabethe C. Payne, Founder and Director, Queering Education Research Institute(QuERI) at Roosevelt House, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator.
CLE Panel: ADA and FMLA: Rights and Responsibilities
with
David Lopez, Co-Dean, Professor of Law and Professor Alfred Slocum Scholar, Rutgers Law School, Tony Thomas, Chief Legal and Labor Relations Officer, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Melissa S. Woods, Of Counsel, Cohen Weiss & Simon, LLP, and Joseph Ambash, Fisher & Phillips LLP, Moderator.
Panel: Reasonable Accommodations for Faculty with Disabilities (in formation)
with Jamie Daniel,
National Field Service Representative, AAUP, Panelist and Moderator and John Rose, Dean for Diversity, Hunter College, CUNY and Bethany LaLonde, CUNY LEADS Job Developer, College of Staten Island.
Panel: Teaching Assistants with Disabilities (in formation)
with Alexandra Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan and Laura Yvonne Bulk, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees. Local 2278, PhD Candidate, Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of British Columbia.
Panel: Preparing and Presenting Grievances in Arbitration
(in formation)
with Suzanne Clark, Michigan Education Association, NEA, Sarah Miller Espinosa, Esq., Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Ombuds, and Letitia F. Silas, Esq., Senior Associate General Counsel (Labor), Howard University.
Panel: Negotiating for Part-Time Faculty Equity
with Will Silvio, President, Berklee College of Music Faculty Union, Jay Kennedy, Berklee College of Music Vice President for Academic Affairs/Vice Provost, Darryl Wood, NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist, Dia M. Carleton, Chief Human Resources Officer, SUNY Oneonta,
and Beth Margolis, Gladstein, Reif & Meginniss, LLP, Moderator.
Panel: RCM Budget Model, Collective Bargaining, and Faculty Salary Equity
with
Cathy Y.H. Wang, Part-Time Lecturer, PhD candidate in Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, Laszlo M. Szabo, Esq., Director, Office of Research Regulatory Affairs, PhD student in Higher Education, Rutgers University,
Rebecca Givan, Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT and Associate Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, and
Adrienne Eaton, Dean, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Moderator.
Panel: Evolving Academic Labor Relations in Cross-National Perspective with Tobias Schulze-Cleven, Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Management & Labor Relations, Heather Steffen, University of California, Santa Barbara, Commentator, and Laura W. Perna, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education, Executive Director, Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, Commentator.
Panel: Collective Bargaining from All Sides: Unionism, the Faculty Senate, Contingent Faculty, and Academic Administration
with Jon E. Bekken, Albright College, David Hamilton Golland, Governors State University, Nelson Ouellet, Université de Moncton, Naomi R Williams, Rutgers University,
and
Theodore Curry, Associate Provost and Associate Vice President, Michigan State University, Moderator and Commentator.
Panel: Public Financing of Michigan Community Colleges: The Impact of State Funding Cuts and Property Tax Caps (in formation)
with Erin Schor, Vice President, Michigan Community College Association, Karin Tarpenning, Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literature, and Culture, Wayne State University; Treasurer, Union of Part-time Faculty, AFT Local 477, and William Norris, Vice President, Henry Ford Community College Adjunct Faculty Organization, AFT Local 337.
Panel: Public Financing of Public Universities: The Consequences of Austerity
with Thomas Anderson, Department of History, Wayne State University; Executive Director & Vice President, Union of Part-time Faculty, AFT Local 477, John Miller, President, University Professionals of Illinois, Local 4100, IFT, AFT, AFL-CIO; Executive Vice President, Illinois State Federation of Teachers, Dale Kapla, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programming and Faculty Affairs, Northern Michigan University,
and Michael Klein,
Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow at Rockefeller Institute of Government,
SUNY, Moderator.
Panel: Bargaining Over Online Learning (in formation)
with Joseph McConnell, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, Cynthia Eaton, Secretary, Faculty Association, Suffolk County Community College, and Gary Rhoades,
Professor of Higher Education,
University of Arizona, and Co-Editor, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.
Panel: Stop the War: Learning to Wage Peaceful Coexistence: Management and Faculty Collaboration in a Community College Setting
with
Robert Sammis, Chief Negotiator and Director of Human Relations, Citrus College and John Fincher, Former Three Time President, Citrus College Faculty Association, Former Board member, California Community College Association, CCA/CTA/NEA.
Panel: Building Collaborative and Functional Teams During Organizational Change at Bronx Community College
with Karla Renee Williams, Esq., Executive Legal Counsel & Deputy to the President, Bronx Community College, CUNY, Susan Fiore, Esq., Labor Designee & Assistant Legal Counsel, Bronx Community College, CUNY, Nancy Ritze, Dean for Research, Planning & Assessment, Bronx Community College, CUNY, Sharon Utakis, PSC Chapter Chair, Bronx Community College, and
Courtney Brewer, Exec. Vice President, Faculty Association, Suffolk County Community College, Moderator.
Panel: Unexpected Resources and New Allies: Reframing the Role of Unions in the Preservation of Higher Education
(in formation)
with Marcella Bencivenni, Professor of History, Hostos Community College, CUNY, Evelyn Burg, Professor English and PSC Grievance Counselor, LaGuardia Community College, and Wes Lundburg Executive Dean/CEO Suffolk County Community College, Commentator.
Panel: Labor as Contingent as Free Speech? An Analysis of Recent Adjunct Faculty First Amendment Cases (in formation)
with Nora Devlin, Doctoral Student, Rutgers Graduate School of Education, Martin Malin, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Institute for Law and the Workplace, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Stacey Hawkins, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School.
Panel: Speaking of Dignity: Interviews with Non-Unionized Adjunct Faculty Teaching at a Catholic Church-affiliated University (in formation)
with Jacob Bennett, University of New Hampshire and Maria Maisto, New Faculty Majority.
Panel: An Introduction to Interest-Based Bargaining
with Andrew Pizzi Conflict Resolution Practitioner, I & I Resolutions, Thomas O’Keefe, Conflict Resolution Practitioner, I & I Resolutions, Kris Rondeau. Director, AFSCME New England Organizing Project, and William Connellan, University of Florida.
Panel: Book Session: The Gig Academy: Mapping Labor in the Neoliberal University (in formation)
with T
om DePaola, P
rovost’s Fellow in Urban Education Policy, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California and
Daniel Scott,
Research Associate, Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success, Pullias Center for Higher Education, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California.
Panel: An Economic and Data Analysis of Faculty Salary Disparities (in formation)
with Frederick G. Floss, Professor and Chair, Department of Economics and Finance, SUNY Buffalo State, Monica C. Barrett, Bond, Schoenick & King, and Judy Keenan, Deputy Director, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New York District Office.
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National Center's Comments to NLRB on GSE Rule-making
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The National Center submitted
comments
on November 20, 2019 to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in response to its proposed rule to exclude graduate assistants and other student employees from coverage under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The comments were prepared by National Center Executive Director Bill Herbert and Joseph van der Naald, CUNY Doctoral Student and National Center Affiliated Researcher.
The purpose of the National Center's comments was to provide the NLRB with relevant data, legal precedent, and empirical evidence to help inform the agency’s decision-making. The National Center explicitly took no position concerning the substance of the proposed rule but encouraged the agency to schedule hearings to permit testimony from administrators and faculty representatives with experience negotiating and administering contracts concerning graduate assistants.
In our comments, we pointed out that this year marks the first half-century of unionization and collective bargaining involving student employees in higher education in the United States.
In 1969, the New York State Public Employment Relations Board certified a union to represent a bargaining unit at the City University of New York (CUNY) that included teaching assistants, research assistants, and research associates. Teaching assistants at Rutgers University have been continuously represented in a bargaining unit with faculty since the early 1970s. The first
contract
for teaching assistants was entered into at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on April 17,1970 with a union that had been recognized the year before. The earliest known certification of a union to represent student food service workers on campus was issued on April 28, 1970 to AFSCME Council 75 for a bargaining unit at the University of Oregon.
We included in our comments information and data showing that the NLRB's proposed rule would exclude from NLRA coverage 81,390 graduate assistants working at 518 private institutions in occupations that other federal agencies treat as distinct from the classification of graduate student. We also cited five decades of legal precedent finding graduate assistants and other student employees had unionization rights under state constitutions and collective bargaining laws in 14 states and in Canadian provinces.
The comments analyze the bargaining unit composition and terms of 42 current collective bargaining agreements involving graduate and undergraduate student employees. The most common contract provisions (100%) address wages and grievance-arbitration procedures. The next most common provisions are non-discrimination, and terms of appointment clauses, which are found in 41 agreements (97.62%), followed by management rights and union security provisions contained in 40 agreements (95.24%). Over 90% of the 42 agreements address health care benefits (39), health and safety (38), union access (38), and no-strike clauses are included in over three-quarters of the agreements (32). More than 80% of the contracts have provisions concerning employee leave (37), workload (35), and workplace discipline (35). Academic freedom is specifically addressed in over 30% of the agreements, and intellectual property is a negotiated topic in over a quarter of the contracts. Retirement is a subject in 19% of the contracts.
The
deadline for
submitting comments
to the NLRB concerning its proposed rule regarding graduate assistants and other student workers ends on December 16, 2019.
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Oregon Institute of Tech.: AAUP Certified to Represent Dept. Chairs
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Oregon Institute of Technology,
OERB Case No. RC-007-18
On November 14, 2019, the Oregon Employment Relations Board (OERB) issued a
decision and certification
in a representation case filed by AAUP seeking to represent a bargaining unit of department chairs at Oregon Institute of Technology. In reaching its decision, an OERB 2-member majority concluded that department chairs are not "supervisors" under Oregon's Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act, and therefore entitled to union representation for purposes of collective bargaining. The majority found that the department chairs have an academic rather than an administrative focus and therefore are not supervisors under the state's collective bargaining law.
As a result, AAUP has been certified to represent the following bargaining unit at Oregon Institute of Technology:
All faculty Department Chairs at the Oregon Institute of Technology, excluding employees in the following groups: (1) faculty employed as a president, vice president, provost, vice provost, dean, associate dean, assistant dean, head or equivalent position; (2) faculty employed in an administrative position without a reasonable expectation of teaching, research or other scholarly accomplishments; (3) classified staff; (4) confidential employees; and (5) all faculty, instructors or librarians in any other bargaining unit.
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Oregon Health & Science University: AFSCME Certified to
Represent Interns & Residents
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Oregon Health & Science University
, OERB Case No. RC-009-19
On November 5, 2019, the Oregon Employment Relations Board
certified
AFSCME as the exclusive representative for the following unit of interns and residents at Oregon Health & Science University:
All Physicians employed by OHSU as Interns, Residents, and Fellows in its Graduate Medical Education Program, excluding supervisors, confidential employees, and managerial employees.
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Montgomery Comm. College: Court Denies Effort to Compel Arbitration
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Montgomery College Chapter AAUP v. Montgomery Community College, Maryland Court of Special Appeals,
Case No. 443221V
On November 5, 2019 the Maryland Court of Special Appeals handed down a
decision
that affirmed a lower court decision denying an application by the Montgomery College AAUP Chapter to compel arbitration of a grievance challenging Montgomery Community College's undisputed failure to pay a negotiated wage increase to full-time faculty for academic fiscal year 2018.
The
Montgomery Community College’s
budget comes from three revenue streams: the State of Maryland, Montgomery County, and student tuition payments. The College requested $7.4 million from the County to fund, in part, the 6.25% faculty wage increase agreed to under the collective bargaining agreement for the 2018 fiscal academic year. Instead, the Montgomery County Council approved $5.2 million.
Following the action of the Montgomery County Council, the College invoked
section 8.5 of the agreement titled “Failure to Achieve Projected Revenues,” which states:
"This Agreement is dependent upon receipt by Montgomery
College
of the revenues projected by Montgomery County as necessary to implement the Agreement. Should revenues fall below the levels necessary to implement this Agreement, Management shall immediately notify the Chapter of the shortfall in revenues and of its proposals, if any, for such modifications of this Agreement as are, in the judgment of Management, made necessary by the shortfall. Thereafter, Management and the Chapter shall promptly meet and bargain in good faith in an attempt to reach an agreement which can be implemented within the revenues received by Montgomery
College
."
After efforts by AAUP and the College to re-negotiate failed, a contract grievance was filed seeking the 6.25% increase. The College denied the grievance and then refused AAUP's demand to arbitrate.
In affirming the dismissal of AAUP's lawsuit to compel arbitration, the appellate court concluded that section 8.5 of the contract was the applicable provision for the resolution of the wage dispute caused by the County's denial of the requested revenue. Under that section, the parties agreed that if re-negotiations failed, the dispute would be resolved through independent fact-finding rather than through binding arbitration. In support of its construction the court cited to section
3.2(C) of the contract that expressly denies an arbitrator the authority to make changes to the negotiated wage rate or structure.
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University of California: Injunctive Relief Against Strikes Denied
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University of California, California PERB Order No. IR-62-H
On November 7, 2019, the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) issued a
decision denying requests by the University of California for injunctive relief, following the filing of strike notices concerning three bargaining units represented by AFSCME, Local 3299, and one represented by United Professional and Technical Employees-Communication Workers of America, Local 9119 (UPTE).
The university sought injunctive relief on the grounds that the one-day strike by the unions on May 16, 2019 was an illegal intermittent strike because it was the fifth short strike since May 2018.
In denying the requests for injunctive relief, California PERB found the history of the short-duration strikes presented by the university did "not provide reasonable cause to believe the Unions’ presumptively protected activities are in fact unlawfully intermittent because the walkouts were: (1) called by different bargaining units, with others going out in sympathy; (2) in part precipitated or provoked by a public employer’s alleged unfair conduct; (3) preceded by a notice period of sufficient length to permit the University to prepare for continued operations during the strike; and (4) separated by variable intervals of time sufficient to dispel the notion that the Unions planned their activities in advance or embarked on a coordinated strategy of rolling economic strikes. While the presence of any of these indicia may be sufficient to rebut an intermittent strike allegation, insofar as the Unions’ strikes presented all four, there was no reasonable cause to believe their activities were unlawful." Alternatively, the agency rejected the university's claim that injunctive relief was warranted because the strikes would cause disproportionate economic harm.
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Strike Threat Data Collection Tool Launched
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Robert Ovetz, Lecturer, Political Science, SJSU, has announced the launch of a new on-line self-reporting data collection tool for strike threats. His preliminary research of strike threats between 2012-2016 found that strike related activity is on the rise.
The new on-line tool concerning strikes is necessary because the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics does not maintain such data. Strike threats can now be reported here:
https://strikethreats.org/
Researcher contact information:
Robert Ovetz, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Political Science, SJSU
Author,
When Workers Shot Back
(Brill 2018/Haymarket 2019) and editor of the forthcoming
Workers’ Inquiries and Class Struggle
(Pluto Press 2020).
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YogaWorks: Yoga Instructors Vote for Union Representation
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YogaWorks, Inc
., NLRB Case No. 29-RC-248154
In what might be a first in labor organizing, the yoga instructors at YogaWorks in New York City voted in favor of union representation by the International Association of Machinists. In a bargaining unit of 124 instructors, the vote was 58-21 in favor of unionization.
The following is the at-issue unit:
Included: All teachers and teacher trainers currently employed by the Employer at the Employer's studios located at 53 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, 1319 Third Avenue, New York 10021, 474 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 and 50 S Buckhout Street, Irvington, NY 10533 who worked at least two class hours since June 1, 2019, and teachers and teacher trainers who worked at least two class hours at the Employers studio at 459 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 before it closed shall be eligible, provided that they are currently scheduled to work at any of the Employers remaining greater New York-area facilities.
Excluded: All greeters, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.
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Webster Hall in NYC: Stagehands Vote for Union Representation
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EV Events Center, LLC,
NLRB Case No. 02-RC-249502
On November 14, 2019, NLRB Region 2 tallied the ballots concerning a unionization effort by stagehands and stage technicians working at Webster Hall located at 125 East 11th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village. According to the tally, in a unit of 55 employees, the vote was 28-2 in favor of union representation.
Webster Hall has a connection to labor history. During the early 20th Century it was used for
union rallies and fund-raising events. Over the decades, Webster Hall was also been used as a performance and recording space. According to one
website, Elvis Presley recorded Hound Dog there in 1956. Other artists who have recorded there include Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra.
The following is the composition of the new bargaining unit at Webster Hall:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time stagehands and stage technicians employed by the Employer at its facility at 125 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.
Excluded: All other employees and all clerical workers, managers, guards, and professional employees, and supervisors as defined by the Act.
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Nevada Ballet Theatre: Election Scheduled for Ballet Dancers
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Nevada Ballet Theatre, Inc
.
, NLRB Case No. 29-RC-251226
The NLRB has scheduled an election on December 6, 2019 concerning a petition filed by the American Guild of Musical Artists to represent a unit of approximately 29 dancers, apprentices, stage managers and assistant stage managers. The following is the at-issue bargaining unit listed in the representation petition
Included: All Company Dancers, Apprentices, Assistant Stage Managers, and Stage Managers employed by the Employer at its Las Vegas, Nevada Facility.
Excluded: All other employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.
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NBC News Digital: Editorial Employees Seek Union Representation
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NBCUniversal Media LLC, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-251594
An election has been scheduled for December 4, 2019 concerning a petition filed by the NewsGuild of New York seeking to represent a unit of approximately 150 editorial employees working for NBC News Digital.
The following is the unit sought in the petition:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time editorial employees employed by NBC News Digital to create editorial content for initial distribution on NBC News Digital platforms (currently nbcnews.com, TODAY.com, msnbc.com, NBC News Now, and Stay Tuned), including editors, reporters, producers, writers, production assistants, editorial designers, animators, and graphic artists.
Excluded: All other employees, including employees based outside the United States, independent contractors, confidential employees, managerial employees, temporary employees, guards and supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act.
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New Bedford Symphony Orchestra: Musicians Seek to Unionize
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New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Association, Inc.,
NLRB Case No. 01-RC-25048
The NLRB has scheduled a mail ballot election concerning a representation petition filed
by the Boston Musicians Association, AFM seeking to represent a union of approximately 70 musicians employed by the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra.
The following is the unit sought in the representation petition:
Included: All Instrumental Musicians.
Excluded: conductors, guest performers, office staff, managerial employees, confidential employees and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.
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Marciano Art Foundation: Firings After Representation Petition Filed
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Marciano Art Foundation,
NLRB Case Nos. 31-RC-251182 and 31-CA-251501
On November 1, 2019, AFSCME, District Council 36 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to be certified to represent a unit of approximately 70 employees including Visitor Services Associates at the Marciano Arts Foundation in Los Angeles. Six days later, the foundation
announced the lay-off of all Visitors Services Associates. This led AFSCME to file an unfair labor practice charge against the foundation alleging retaliation and discrimination in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
The following is the unit sought in the representation petition:
Included: Visitor Services Associate, Floor Lead, Visitor Services Associate - Bookstore, Genesis Lab Assistant, Docent. Excluded: Supervisors, Prepator Building/ Building Assistant, Chief Prepator, Prepator, Janitorial Services, Security, Exhibitions, Curatorial Assistant, Building Management Associate, Human Resources, Special Events and Communications, Public Relations, Office Administration, Bookstore Manager, Director of Visitor Services, Artistic Director, Genesis Educator, Genesis Director.
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Recently Published National Center Research
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National Center Executive Director Bill Herbert authored two articles published in a recent volume of the Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal. Both articles are based on papers prepared for the Taylor Law @ 50 Conference on May 10-11, 2018 in Albany, New York, which was organized by the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and the New York State Bar Association Labor and Employment Section.
The first article,
Jerome Lefkowitz: A Pragmatic Intellect and Major Figure in Taylor Law History examines the professional career of a central figure in the history of the Taylor Law, New York's public sector collective bargaining statute. Mr. Lefkowitz helped draft the Taylor Law, and served as the first PERB Deputy Chairperson, and later the agency's fifth Chairperson from 2007 until 2015. During his tenure as PERB's Deputy Chairperson, Mr. Lefkowitz presented at National Center annual labor-management conferences.
The second article published in the new volume of Hofstra Labor and Employment Law Journal is titled
Total Eclipse of the Court? Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 in Historical, Legal, and Public Policy Contexts
, which was co-written by New York State Public Employment Relations Board Chairperson John F. Wirenius, and
Sarah W. Cudahy, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board. The article examines the historical rise and institutionalization of the agency shop in public sector labor relations and its sudden fall in
Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31. It also discusses ways that state governments, unions, and public employers can respond to the decision, along with the important practical and legal ramifications of the decision.
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Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Vol. 10
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The National Center's
Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, is a peer review multi-disciplinary journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Eastern Illinois University (Emeritus), and Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona. The following are links to articles in Volume 10:
Op-Eds
Articles
Practitioner Perspectives
We encourage scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor relations, and labor history to submit research articles, op-eds, and practitioner perspectives for potential publication. The Journal is particularly interested in contributions related to collective bargaining and unionization issues in the post-Janus world.
The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University.
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National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining
in Higher Education and the Professions
Hunter College, City University of New York
425 E 25th St.
Box 615
New York, NY 10010
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