NYU Grad Student Workers Get NLRB Hearing That Could Lead To Labor Rights For Such Workers Nationwid

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/14347

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on October 28, 2010 - 3:30pm
Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionSend to friendSend to friend

By Doug Cunningham

NYU grad students who work as teaching and research assistant are getting a National Labor Relations Board hearing on their workplace rights. Hundreds of these grad student workers had a union contract in place when their collective bargaining rights were taken from them by a Bush administration NLRB decision. Emma Kreyche is a member of the Graduate Student Organzing Committee UAW local at NYU.

: “Like any other worker we want a union so we can bargain collectively about issues of wages and benefits and workplace issues and to achieve some degree of security and stability in the workplace. So what we’re asking is not any different from any other workers who have the right to bargain collectively would be asking.”

If this NLRB hearing restores NYU teaching and research assistant bargaining rights there would be a new union representation election. Kreyche says a majority of the roughly1800 grad student workers at NYU support the union. NYU, however, is refusing to recognize and bargain with them.

: “They’ve repeatedly denied our right to unionize. They’ve attempted to union bust in many different ways on many different occaisions. They could volunteer to recognize us but they haven’t. The thing to keep in mind is that this has im