UAW LOCAL 2110
NYU fails test of workplace democracy
It’s not going to be business as usual when New York University’s fall semester starts.
“People are really fired up,” says Jenny Shaw, a UAW Local 2110 bargaining committee member.
A graduate student, Shaw works as a research assistant (RA) and teaching assistant (TA). She and her co-workers are fired up to protect their rights because NYU administrators walked away from a successful collective-bargaining relationship with more than 1,000 TAs and RAs.
Administrators announced Aug. 5 they would not enter into negotiations; the current contract expired Aug. 31.
Unit chair Michael Palm is confident TAs and RAs can win a fair agreement. “They’re calling it a ‘final’ decision, but it’s far from final,” says Palm.
In 2001 TAs and RAs won the first-ever labor contract for academic student employees (ASEs) at a private university. This followed a landmark, bipartisan ruling in 2000 by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which found that TAs and RAs – who receive paychecks in exchange for work performed – are employees with the right to collective bargaining.
But in 2004 the NLRB reversed itself, ruling that TAs and RAs are primarily students and private universities have no obligation to negotiate.
What changed between 2000 and 2004? Politics. President Bush appointed a
majority of the five-member NLRB, and instead of a unanimous, bipartisan ruling,
it was three Bush appointees who slammed the door on organizing efforts in a
3-2 straight party-line ruling.
NYU announced in June its “preliminary” decision not to enter into
any negotiations for a new contract. This unilateral move was met with a firestorm
of criticism, including a town hall meeting July 12 attended by more than 500
people.
NYU planned to announce a final decision July 15, but after months of pressure from the International Union and Local 2110 members, the university delayed and then issued a “take it or leave it” proposal Aug. 2.
Its proposal, which was designed to be rejected, called for elimination of a neutral, binding grievance procedure, leaving the provost as judge and jury of contract disputes.
When the UAW declined to meet NYU’s demands, the university announced Aug. 5 there would be no negotiations and no new contract.
“We’re going to escalate pressure on NYU,” Palm says. “I have complete confidence that before I leave NYU, I’ll be working under a second contract.”
