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Graduate Students Clear Hurdle in Effort to Form Union
NY Times ^ | 23 Aug 2016 | NOAM SCHEIBER

Posted on 08/23/2016 12:46:26 PM PDT by oblomov

Students who work as teaching and research assistants at private universities will be allowed to vote to unionize under a ruling Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board that found that they are employees under federal labor law.

The case arose from a union election petition filed by a group of primarily graduate students at Columbia University, who are seeking to form a union that will join the United Automobile Workers.

The three Democratic members of the board made up the majority; the lone Republican member dissented. A fifth spot on the board has been vacant since last year.

The decision reverses a 2004 ruling by the board involving graduate student assistants at Brown University. The ruling held that the assistants could not be considered employees because they “are primarily students and have a primarily educational, not economic, relationship with their university.”

The current board disagreed, arguing that it could treat students as employees if they perform and are compensated for work that the university oversees, even if their relationship with the university was substantially broader.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bums; nlrb; occupy; unions
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The decline of US universities continues apace.
1 posted on 08/23/2016 12:46:26 PM PDT by oblomov
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To: oblomov

Time to do away with these positions.

After the union forms, it’s too late.

Just end those programs now.


2 posted on 08/23/2016 12:48:20 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (He wins & we do, our nation does, the world does. It's morning in America again. You are living it!)
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To: oblomov

When Richard F. Griffin, Jr. became General Counsel of the NLRB (despite the fact that Republicans had made concessions to Obama dependent upon his NOT being associated with the NLRB) he tried to ram card check through.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3085102/posts

Look for him to try to get this to happen via card check.


3 posted on 08/23/2016 12:50:38 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: DoughtyOne

This is so far removed from reality it is unreal. Well, now that the students will be employees of the University, I hope they understand what that means. I can promise you, the union didn’t fully explain that to them when they get them to sign the cards.


4 posted on 08/23/2016 12:53:03 PM PDT by WilliamCooper1
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To: oblomov

If part of the curriculum is that work for experience then a union would be daft.
I do know some PHD candidates are held for too long doing that though.


5 posted on 08/23/2016 12:53:03 PM PDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God Bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: oblomov

I had a friend who had his doctrine in Physics and was doing a student teaching at Penn State for room and board plus 18 thousand dollars while the Professor was getting over 200 thousand and not even teaching the once a month!


6 posted on 08/23/2016 12:53:13 PM PDT by Busko (The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I just can’t see that happening. Card check to the Dems is live overturning Roe v. Wade to us. Even when Obama and the Dems were at the height of their power in 2009, they knew that they could never pull it off.


7 posted on 08/23/2016 12:54:45 PM PDT by WilliamCooper1
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To: Busko

“I had a friend who had his doctrine in Physics and was doing a student teaching at Penn State for room and board plus 18 thousand dollars”

Wow! Doing a student and getting paid! Nice gig!


8 posted on 08/23/2016 12:55:56 PM PDT by CodeToad (Islam should be banned and treated as a criminal enterprise!)
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To: DoughtyOne
Time to do away with these positions.

You mean professors would have to teach their own classes?

Yeah, like that'll ever happen...

9 posted on 08/23/2016 12:56:49 PM PDT by MAexile (Bats left, votes rights)
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To: MAexile

I know, I know, they’re so tired after working to get tenure.


10 posted on 08/23/2016 12:57:56 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (He wins & we do, our nation does, the world does. It's morning in America again. You are living it!)
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To: oblomov

Makes sense to me. Grad students are way too often treated as free labor. Half the low end classes are taught by grad students. If you’re going to make somebody do the work eventually they’re going to want the recognition, pay and benefits.


11 posted on 08/23/2016 12:59:01 PM PDT by discostu (If you need to load or unload go to the white zone, you'll love it, it's a way of life)
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To: oblomov

Liberal universities are about to get a taste of their own medicine, eh? Good!!


12 posted on 08/23/2016 1:03:54 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: discostu

Lincoln Freed the Slaves.

He didn’t say NOTHIN’ about the interns.


13 posted on 08/23/2016 1:04:25 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: oblomov

If the students go on strike, do the teachers and maintenance personnel cross the picket line?


14 posted on 08/23/2016 1:24:20 PM PDT by Road Warrior ‘04 (Molon Labe! (Oathkeeper))
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To: oblomov
Leftists often adopt policies chock full of unintended consequences.

Taxpayer subsidized abortions cause the death by dismemberment of a full 40% of all black children conceived in this country. Planned Barrenhood has ALWAYS favored that result but think of all the chances dashed for the innocent victims to vote Demonrat.

Likewise, this stupidity will hasten the demise of generally leftist brick and mortar universities (the modern leftist equivalent of medieval castles) and their influence. Let us not be blinded by our distaste for unions if that is a result.

15 posted on 08/23/2016 1:30:31 PM PDT by BlackElk (Dean of Discipline Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Society: Rack 'em Danno!)
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To: BlackElk

We’ve had graduate student unions at Canadian universities for years. No biggie. There’s too much turnover for them to have any real continuity of bargaining power.


16 posted on 08/23/2016 1:34:23 PM PDT by littleharbour
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To: oblomov; All
Thank you for referencing that article oblomov. Please note that the following critique is directed at the article and not at you.

”… will be allowed to vote to unionize under a ruling Tuesday by the National Labor Relations Board that found that they are employees under federal labor law [emphasis added]."

FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument

Patriots beware!

Regardless what FDR’s state sovereignty-ignoring, activist justices wanted everybody to think about the scope of Congress’s Commerce Clause powers (1.8.3), the states have never delegated to the feds, expressly via the Constitution, the specific power to regulate INTRAstate labor. This is evidenced by the following excerpts by previous generations of state sovereignty-respecting justices.

In fact, note that even if the states had expressly constitutionally delegated such power to Congress that the Founding States made the Constitution’s Sections 1-3 of Artcle I to clarify that all federal regulatory / legislative powers are vested in the elected members of Congress, not in the executive or judicial branches, or in faceless, non-elected bureaucrats such as those running the NLRB or the EPA as examples. So Congress has a constitutional monopoly on federal legislative powers whether it wants it or not.

But by letting federal officials outside the legislative branch get away with stealing and using legislative branch powers, powers that the states have never delgated to Congress in this case, corrupt lawmakers are not only blatantly ignoring Sections 1-3 mentioned above, but they are also letting federal bureaucrats do their unpopular, unconstitutional legislative work for them.

In other words, by letting outsiders do their dirty work for them, crook lawmakers are able to keep their voting records clean, arguably to fool low-information patriots into reelecting them.

Remember in November !

Patriots need to support Trump / Pence by also electing a new, state sovereignty-respecting Congress that will not only work within its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers to support Trump’s vision for making America great again for everybody, but will put a stop to unconstitutonal federal taxes and likewise unconstitutional inteference in state affairs.

Note that such a Congress will also probably be willing to fire state sovereignty-ignoring activist justices.

17 posted on 08/23/2016 1:37:51 PM PDT by Amendment10
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To: WilliamCooper1
Even when Obama and the Dems were at the height of their power in 2009, they knew that they could never pull it off.

Oh....they COULD pull off Card Check quite easily. Stroke of the pen. Obozo just lost his nerve on this one because he and Hildebeast had taken so much money from Wall Street.

Card Check will be back. Mark my words. The NRLB might even slam it through before Obama's term ends.


18 posted on 08/23/2016 1:38:30 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: oblomov

Good. Professors by and large espouse and endorse unions but don’t have to deal with them. Let’s see what happens to that support when they have to deal with unions up close and personal.


19 posted on 08/23/2016 1:38:59 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: WilliamCooper1

“now that the students will be employees of the University”

It won’t be long before the football players (and all other college athletes) demand to be paid wages.


20 posted on 08/23/2016 1:46:36 PM PDT by Flavious_Maximus
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