STUDENT UNION

NLRB: Grad Students Can Unionize at Private Colleges

In a 3-1 decision.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled that Columbia University graduate students can unionize, effectively allowing their peers nationwide to unionize at private colleges. According to the NLRB’s 3-1 decision announced Tuesday, graduate students can be afforded the same protections as employees under federal labor law. Graduate students deserve labor-related protections when “they perform work, at the direction of the university, for which they are compensated,” specifically when they perform the duties of a teacher’s assistant. Because the NLRB oversees labor disputes in the private sector, the ruling does not apply to graduate students at public colleges.