By a 2 – 1 vote, the National Labor Relations Board denied a request by Yale for an “expedited review” of a decision that allowed nine “micro-units” of graduate students to vote in unionizing elections Thursday.
The elections took place among graduate student teachers in nine academic departments. Grad student teachers in six departments voted to be represented as separate bargaining units by UNITE HERE Local 33. One department, physics, voted no. The union side was leading in the other two elections, but the outcome is waiting on results of challenges to some of the votes. (Click here for a full story on that.)
The elections took place because a regional NLRB official ruled that such mini-elections could take place rather than having one election to cover all 50-odd departments at Yale. Local 33 had argued in favor of the micro-elections; Yale had argued in favor of one large bargaining unit.
So while plans proceeded for the elections, Yale asked the NLRB’s DC office to do the expedited review of the regional decision.
The decision, dated Feb. 22, denied the request. The board’s acting chair, Philip A. Miscimarra, dissented, in the 2 – 1 decision to deny, arguing that precedent in a previous case involving Columbia University should have dictated that the entire graduate school be considered one unit. Click here to read the decision and dissent.
The link is to a letter from the Grad School dean, not the NLRB. The decision may be found here, clicking on Yale University. https://www.nlrb.gov/cases-decisions/board-decisions
The NLRB seems not to have ruled on the merits of the matter, which the acting chairman, who favored granting expedited review, said might take months or years if not expedited. Presently, all 3 members of the NRLB have a very-pro-union history. There are two vacancies, which Trump may fill immediately, and he will be able to replace one of the present commissioners (the acting chair) at the end of this year.
[Ed.: Thanks for catching that! Fixed.]