SUNY researchers win NLRB ruling (The National Labor Relations Board has reversed itself)

[Omaha Steve]

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2007/07/09/daily29.html

SUNY researchers win NLRB ruling
Business First of Buffalo - 4:00 PM EDT Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The National Labor Relations Board has reversed itself and granted more than 2,000 employees of the SUNY Research Foundation the right to collectively bargain.

The NLRB said research project assistants and research support specialists are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, a decision praised by Communication Workers of America Local 1104, which represents about 5,000 graduate student employees at SUNY. The NLRB was acting on CWA's petition.

CWA Local 1104 president George Bloom said the decision "properly recognizes that the Research Foundation is a private employer and its employees deserve the rights guaranteed under the NLRA."

The decision allows the NLRB to count ballots in unionization votes cast by the Research Foundation's employees dating back to March 2002 in Albany, April 2003 in Buffalo and March 2004 in Syracuse, according to CWA.

Kathleen Sims, the local's executive vice president, said she was looking forward to meeting with the foundation to negotiate a contract.

"The board's decision is a tremendous victory for graduate student workers who are required to work to support themselves and their families while obtaining their degrees," Sims said. "All employees, whether students or not, deserve collective bargaining rights and CWA will continue to fight for those rights."

FULL story at link.