National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, December, 2016

The National Center E-Note is a monthly electronic newsletter containing research and analysis relevant to unionization and collective bargaining in higher education and the professions.

NATIONAL CENTER

for the Study of Collective Bargaining in

Higher Education and the Professions

E-Note

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ncscbhep

Happy Holidays from the National Center

December 2016

The National Center E-Note is a monthly electronic newsletter containing research and analysis relevant to unionization and collective bargaining in higher education and the professions.

1. Register Now for the National Center’s 2017 Annual Conference

2. Plenary: Impact of Anti-Intellectualism on the State of Higher Education

3. Collective Bargaining and Unionization at Private Sector Institutions

4. Columbia University: Student Employees Vote for UAW Representation

5. Loyola University Chicago: SEIU Files for Graduate Student Employees

6. Augsburg College: Adjunct Faculty Vote for SEIU Representation

7. Institute of Culinary Education: Instructors Vote for Union Representation

8. Hillsborough Comm. Coll.: Adjunct Faculty Vote for SEIU Representation

9. University of Hartford: Adjunct Mail Ballot Election Taking Place

10. George Washington University: SEIU Seeks to Represent Resident Advisors

11. New York University: Faculty Suit Based on Faculty Handbook Reinstated

12. Columbia College: Part-Time Faculty Union Affiliates with SEIU

13. New School: IBT Certified to Represent Professional Unit

14. Now Available: 2016 Conference Webcasts and Podcasts

15. The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

16. Labour Relations Conference for University and College Management

Register Now for National Center’s 2017 Annual Conference

Registration has begun for our 44th Annual Conference at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City on March 26-28, 2017

You can register online or you can register by mail.

Early conference registration and hotel reservations are strongly encouraged.

The 2017 conference is underwritten with a grant from TIAA.

Plenary: Impact of Anti-Intellectualism on the State of Higher Education

The National Center has organized a timely and relevant plenary session for the 2017 conference on the impact of anti-intellectualism on higher education. The panel will include: independent scholar Susan Jacoby, author of The Age of American Unreason and Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism; Lynn Pasquerella, President, Association of American Colleges and Universities; and Hank Reichman, AAUP Vice President. The moderator will be Frederick P. Schaffer, General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, City University of New York.

Collective Bargaining and Unionization at Private Sector Institutions

At the 2017 conference, there will be speakers and panelists examining issues related to unionization and collective bargaining at private colleges and universities.

Keynote Speaker: Mark G. Pearce
The conference keynote speaker will be NLRB Chairman Mark G. Pearce. Mr. Pearce was named NLRB Chairman by President Barack Obama on August 27, 2011. Mr. Pearce was sworn in as a Board Member on April 07, 2010, following his recess appointment, and was confirmed by the Senate on June 22, 2010. On August 23, 2013 he was sworn in for a second term that expires on August 27, 2018.

Chairman Pearce was a founding partner of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux, where he practiced union and plaintiff side labor and employment law in courts and before administrative agencies.

Student Employee Unionization under the National Labor Relations Act
The 2017 conference will also include a panel examining unionization and collective bargaining of student employees following the NLRB’s Columbia University decision. The panel will include: Joseph W. Ambash, Fisher & Phillips, LLP; Daniel Julius, Senior Vice-President and Provost, New Jersey City University; Julie Kushner, UAW Region 9A Director; and Wilma Liebman, Visiting Scholar, Rutgers University and Former NLRB Chair. Melissa Korn, reporter, Wall Street Journal will be moderating the panel.

NLRB 101: A Prima on National Labor Relations Board Procedures

The conference will include a panel focused on NLRB procedures with Karen P. Fernbach, NLRB, Regional Director, Region 2, Kathy Drew King, NLRB Region Director, Region 29, John Walsh, NLRB Regional Director, Region 1, and moderator James O. Castagnera, Associate Provost and Legal Counsel for Academic Affairs, Rider University. This panel will help administrators and academic labor at private institutions understand NLRB procedures concerning representation and unfair labor practice cases.

Special Workshop Training on Unionization and Collective Bargaining for Administrators with Nicholas DiGiovanni, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, Karen Stubaus, Vice President, Academic Affairs & Administration, Rutgers University, and Margaret E. Winters, Wayne State University.

Special Workshop Training on Unionization and Collective Bargaining for Academic Labor with David Cecil, United Academics, AFT-AAUP Executive Director, University of Oregon, Deborah Williams, NEA Faculty Association President and Lead Negotiator, Johnson County Community College, Larry Alcoff, SEIU, and moderator and facilitator, Phadra Williams, NEA.

Columbia University: Student Employees Vote for UAW Representation

Trustees of Columbia University, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-143012

On December 9, 2016, NLRB Region 2 issued a tally of ballots from a representation election among graduate and undergraduate student employees at Columbia University concerning whether they wanted to be unionized and represented by the UAW for purposes of collective bargaining. Among the 4,256 student employees eligible to vote, 1,602 voted in favor of representation, 623 voted against, and there were an additional 647 ballots challenged.

On December 16, 2016, Columbia University filed objections to the election alleging coercion by the UAW. The university’s objections will have to be determined prior to the certification of a bargaining representative.

The following is the at-issue student employee unit at Columbia University:

Included: All student employees who provide instructional services, including graduate and undergraduate Teaching Assistants (Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, Preceptors, Course Assistants, Readers and Graders): AID Graduate Research Assistants (including those compensated through Training Grants) and All Departmental Research Assistants employed by the Employer at all of its facilities, including Morningside Heights, Health Sciences, Lamont-Doherty and Nevis facilities. Eligible to vote will be all unit employees who: 1) hold an appointment or a training grant in a unit position in the fall semester 2016, or 2) are course assistants, graders or readers who are on the casual payroll and who average 15 hours per week during the Fall semester 2016 through October 31, 2016, or 3) have held a unit position for either the fall, spring or summer during the prior academic year.

Excluded: All other employees, guards and professional employees and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Loyola University Chicago: SEIU Files for Graduate Student Employees

Loyola University Chicago, NLRB Case No. 13-RC-189548

On December 9, 2016, SEIU filed a representation petition seeking to represent approximate 315 graduate student employees at Loyola University Chicago. Earlier this year, SEIU was certified to represent two units of contingent faculty at Loyola University Chicago.

The following is the proposed graduate student employee unit:

Included:

All PhD or Masters students in Loyola University departments housed at Loyola’s campuses in Chicago, Illinois, including its Main Campus at 1032 W.Sheridan Road and its Water Tower Campus at 820 N. Michigan Avenue, who are working towards degrees offered by the Loyola Graduate School’s College of Arts and Sciences Program and who are employed by Loyola to provide instructional research, or assistantship services within the College of Arts and Sciences (including, but not limited to, Adjunct, Instructor of Record, Departmental Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, Program Assistant, Graduate Assistant, library workers, tutors, and monograph acquisitions).

Excluded: All employees at Loyola University not working towards a PhD or Masters degree offered by the Loyola Graduate School’s College of Arts ans Sciences Program. All managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.

Augsberg College: Adjunct Faculty Vote for SEIU Representation

Augsburg College, NLRB Case No. 18-RC-186094

On December 9, 2016, NLRB Region 18 issued a revised tally of ballots in a representation case filed by SEIU seeking to represent approximately 199 full-time and part-time contingent faculty employed by Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The faculty at Augsberg College voted 89-70 in favor of unionization with two additional ballots challenged.

The following is the proposed at-issue unit:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time non-tenured track and non-tenure eligible faculty who teach undergraduate or graduate level courses or labs, including Non-Tenure Track (NTT) Professors, Adjunct Professors, Instructors, Studio Artists who teach classroom courses, and Publishing Mentors employed by the Employer to teach on the Minneapolis campus located at 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454;

Excluded: All other faculty, including tenured and tenure-eligible faculty, faculty who teach exclusively on-line or exclusively at another location, Visiting Faculty, Non-Tenure Track- Administration, all other employees, whether or not they have teaching responsibilities, including Deans, Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, Directors, Associate Directors, Assistant Directors, Associate Provost and Vice Presidents, Provosts, Chairs, Administrators, Managers, Graduate Students (including those teaching courses in addition to being paid a stipend), confidential employees, office clerical employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act, as amended. Others permitted to vote: The parties have agreed that studio artists who do not teach courses to students but who only teach music lessons to students may vote in the election but their ballots will be challenged since their eligibility has not been resolved. No decision has been made regarding whether the individuals in these classifications or groups are included in, or excluded from, the bargaining unit. The eligibility or inclusion of these individuals will be resolved, if necessary, following the election.

Institute of Culinary Education: Instructors Vote for Union Representation

Institute of Culinary Education, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-188574

On November 22, 2016, a representation petition was filed by NYSUT, AFT-NEA seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 85 part-time and full-time instructors of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

The December 13, 2016 tally of ballots demonstrated that 58 of the stipulated unit vote in favor of union representation, 20 voted against, and 6 additional ballots were challenged.

The following is the at the at-issue bargaining unit:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time instructors employed by the employer at its facility located at 225 Liberty Street, New York, NY.

Excluded: All other employees, including chef assistants, special event chefs, assistant deans, lead instructors, directors, recipe editors, clerical employees, maintenance employees, purchasing and stewarding employees, and guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.

Hillsborough Comm. Coll.: Adjunct Faculty Vote for SEIU Representation

Hillsborough Community College Board of Trustees, FPERC Case No. EL-2016-028

On November 23, 2016, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission tallied the ballots of part-time adjunct faculty employed by the Hillsborough Community College concerning whether they wanted to be represented by SEIU for purposes of collective bargaining. Of the 1,006 faculty members in the bargaining unit, 339 voted in favor representation, 189 voted against, with 11 additional ballots challenged.

The following is the at-issue part-time faculty bargaining unit:

All part-time adjunct faculty employed by Hillsborough Community College (HCC) at its campuses (including Ybor, Brandon, Dale Mabry, Southshore, Plant City, The Regent, Tampa Electric Company Center, and MacDili Air Force Base Center, and locations established in the future) currently teaching at least one college-credit-bearing course (including hybrid and blended courses, online courses, and dual enrollment courses) and who are compensated on a per point basis by HCC, including any employee who meets these criteria and who also works for HCC in another capacity unless expressly excluded.

Excluded: All tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time faculty, visiting or contract faculty, academic advisors, deans, assistants to deans, provosts, coordinators, directors, dual enrollment adjuncts paid by Hillsborough County School Board, employees covered by an existing collective bargaining agreement (professional staff, non-instructional staff, supervisory staff, full-time faculty), administrators, accountants, IT technicians, counselors, athletic coaches, substitute faculty, faculty teaching Postsecondary Adult Vocational Programs (PSAV) certificate credit courses or non-degree granting courses, managerial, confidential employees, guards, and supervisors as defined by the Act.

University of Hartford: Adjunct Mail Ballot Election Taking Place

University of Hartford, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-187989

On November 23, 2016, NLRB Region 1 issued a notice scheduling a mail ballot election for adjunct faculty at the University of Hartford. The ballots were mailed on December 2, 2016 and the ballot count is scheduled for December 23, 2016. The following is the at-issue adjunct unit:

All part-time faculty employed by the University including Adjuncts, Part-time Community Division faculty, and G3 Contract employees who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending November 13, 2016.

George Washington Univ.: SEIU Seeks to Represent Resident Advisors

George Washington University, NLRB Case No. 05-RC-188871

On November 28, 2016, SEIU filed a representation petition seeking to represent all full-time and regular part-time resident advisors employed by George Washington University.

Unionization of resident advisors in higher education is not unheard of. At the University of Massacusetts, Amherst the UAW represents a unit of resident assistants and peer mentors live in the residence halls. The UAW was certified by the Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) to represent the resident assistants in 2002. In 2015, the peer mentors were added to the bargaining unit by a CERB decision and order.

New York University: Faculty Suit Reinstated Based on Handbook

Monaco v. New York University, NY Index No. 14100738

A lawsuit filed by two tenured faculty members at New York University School of Medicine challenging unilaterally imposed salary reductions was recently reinstated by a New York intermediate appellate court. In its decision, dated December 15, 2016, the court found that the professors had sufficient alleged a breach of contract claim based on the policies set forth in the Faculty Handbook, and based on prior oral representations.

The appellate decision is procedural in nature. The case will now be remanded to the trial court to decide the merits of the claims, unless the institution appeals the decision to New York’s highest court.

Columbia College: Part-Time Faculty Union Affiliates with SEIU

In 2015, the members of the Part-Time Faculty Union (P-FAC) at Community College voted to disaffiliate from NEA. According to a news report, the P-FAC recently voted to affiliate with SEIU.

New School: IBT Certified to Represent Professional Unit

New School, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-186245

On December 8, 2016, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was certified by the NLRB to be the exclusive representative of a unit of approximately 123 professional staff at the New School in New York City. The certification followed an election in which 60 employees voted in favor of union representation, and 27 voted against. The following is the new bargaining unit at the New School:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time Assistant Office Coordinators, Audio-Visual Technicians, Events IT Coordinators, Financial Aid Counselors, Information Technology Technicians L1, Information Technology Technicians L2, Information Technology Technicians L3, Lab Supervisors, Program Administrators, Program Coordinators, Public Programming Coordinators, Signage Assistants, Student Accountant Coordinators L1, Student Success Advisors, and Technicians.

Excluded: All other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Now Available: 2016 Conference Webcasts and Podcasts

Below are links to webcasts and podcasts from the National Center’s 43rd annual national conference, which took place on April 3-5, 2016. We thank Hunter College’s ICIT Department and Becca Pulliam from Please Repeat the Question Productions for their production assistance.

Webcasts

The Future of Community Colleges

Martha Kanter, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Higher Education, Steinhardt Institute of Higher Education Policy NYU; David Bergeron, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Lynette Nyaggah, Community College Association CTA-NEA President; and Stephen Katsinas, Director and Professor, University of Alabama Education Policy Center, Moderator.

LGBT Issues in Higher Education Labor Relations
Rosemary DiSavino, Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Sean Robinson, Morgan State University Associate Professor of Higher Education; Rachel V. See, National Labor Relations Board; Elizabethe C. Payne, Interim Director, LGBT Social Science and Public Policy Center, Roosevelt House, Visiting Associate Professor, Hunter College, CUNY and Director, The Queering Education Research Institute, Moderator.

Negotiating Over Technology in Contracts and Curriculum: Copyright or Copyleft?
Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona; Greg Saltzman, E. Maynard Aris Professor of Economics and Management, Albion College; Michael W. Klein, Executive Director, N.J. Association of State Colleges and Universities; and Richard Novak, Vice President for Continuing Studies and Distance Education, Rutgers University, Moderator.

Podcasts

Friedrichs v. CTA: What the Future May Bring
Cynthia Estlund, Catherine A. Rein Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; Charlotte Garden, Seattle University School of Law Associate Professor; Ruben Garcia, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Professor of Law; and Frederick Schaffer, General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, CUNY, Moderator.

The History, State, and Future of Shared Governance
M. Brian Blake, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Drexel University; Larry G. Gerber, former chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Committee on College and University Governance; Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University; and Scott Jaschik, editor, Inside Higher Ed, Moderator.

America’s Public Regional Universities: Collective Bargaining Matters
Stephen Katsinas, Director and Professor, University of Alabama Education Policy Center, Presenter ; Theodore Curry, Associate Provost, Associate Vice President, Academic Human Resources, Michigan State Univ., Commentator; Fred Floss, Fiscal Policy Institute Senior Fellow, Commentator; and Gail Brooks, Vice Chancellor, Human Resources Emerita, CSU, Interim Vive President Human Resources CSU, Fullerton, Moderator.

Higher Education Issues at Public Sector Labor Boards
Marjorie Wittner, Chair, Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board; Adam Rhynard, Oregon Employment Relations Board member; John Winerius, NYS Public Employment Relations Board Deputy Chair; and Phillip L. Maier, Arbitrator and Mediator, Moderator.

Graduate Assistants, Unionization, and Negotiations
Michael Eagen, Director and Counsel, University of Connecticut Office of Faculty and Staff Labor Relations; Kenneth Lang, UAW Region 9A International Representative
Raymond L. Haines, Associate Vice Chancellor for Employee Relations, State University of New York; and James Castagnera, Associate Provost/Legal Counsel for Academic Affairs, Rider University, Moderator.

Faculty as Mandatory Reporters under Title IX
Coleen Chin, Senior Attorney, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights; John T. Rose, Dean for Diversity, Hunter College, City University of New York; Yael Wepman, Director of EEO & Title IX Coordinator, St. John’s University; and Jeffery Frumkin, Associate Vice Provost and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan, Moderator.

Title IX, Academic Freedom and Due Process
Risa Lieberwitz, Professor, Labor and Employment Law, Cornell ILR, AAUP General Counsel; Rana Jaleel, UC Davis, Committee W; Suzanne B. Goldberg, Executive Vice President for University Life, Columbia University; and Peter Schmidt, Chronicle of Higher Education Senior Writer, Moderator.

The Impact of Faculty Unit Composition on Collective Bargaining
Robin Sowards, Organizer and Researcher, United Steelworkers, and Vice President, New Faculty Majority; Loretta Ragsdell, City Colleges of Chicago Contingent Labor Organizing Committee Vice President and Grievance Chair/IEA/NEA; James Burkel, Senior Academic Labor Relations Representative, University of Michigan; Kenneth Doxsee, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Oregon; and Deborah Cooperstein, Adelphi University AAUP Chapter President, Moderator.

The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy (JCBA) is the National Center’s peer review journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University, and Steve Hicks, Associate Professor of English, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. The most recent volume of JCBA is available here.

We encourage scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor representation, labor relations, and labor history to submit articles for potential publication in future JCBA volumes.

Labour Relations Conference for University and College Management

Our friends at the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA), University and College Employers Association (UCEA), and Faculty Bargaining Services (FBS) have announced that the 3rd International Academic Labour Relations Conference for University and College Management will be taking place on May 1-5, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.

National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions

national.center@hunter.cuny.edu | http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/ncscbhep

Hunter College, City University of New York

425 E 25th St.

Box 615

New York, NY 10010

National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, Hunter College 425 E 25th St., Box 615, New York, NY 10010

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