LERA Comments on Proposed NLRB Rule Change for Graduate Students

The National Labor Relations Board is considering a rule change that would strip graduate students at private universities of their right to organize unions. Erin Johansson, Jobs for Justice and LERA board member, proposed that LERA submit comments to the NLRB detailing LERA’s opposition to the proposed rule change, and the board approved it, given LERA’s explicit statement of support for the human right to organize.

Here is NLRB's rule being considered: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/what-we-do/national-labor-relations-board-rulemaking/student-assistants-rule. Below is LERA's position on the NLRB's proposed rule change. The NLRB is accepting comments from the public through December 16, 2019.

LERA Comments on Proposed NLRB Rule Change (November 2019)

The National Labor Relations Board is considering a rule change that would strip the right of graduate students at private universities to organize unions. The Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) opposes this proposed rule change.

LERA was founded in 1947 as an organization for professionals in industrial relations and human resources. The association supports fundamental worker and human rights in the workplace and supports rights of the employees, employers, and their organizations to organize. As employment relations specialists, we understand the critical role of graduate student employment in supporting teaching, research and administration functions of universities. Graduate students should not be exempted from the fundamental human rights to organize and collectively bargain.

The 1935 National Labor Relations Act states that the policy of the U.S. is encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association. We believe that the current ruling, which affirms the right of graduate students at private universities to unionize, should remain in place.

If you have questions, please contact Erin Johannson.