The National Labor Relations Board Issues Far-Reaching Decision Expanding Union Rights for Faculty Nationwide
December 21, 2014 | By jhuskey |
In a precedent-setting decision, the National Labor Relations Board affirmed the right of faculty at Pacific Lutheran University to form their union with SEIU Local 925, expanding the ability of faculty at many religiously-affiliated institutions to have a voice in the decisions that matter for their profession and their students.
The Board addressed two Supreme Court cases that universities have cited in blocking faculty unionization. It ruled that the Board doctrine developed under the 1979 Catholic Bishop case — a doctrine which had been invoked by religiously-affiliated schools to block Board jurisdiction — did not preclude the NLRB from taking jurisdiction over the petition filed by contingent faculty at Pacific Lutheran. Second, it ruled that neither full-time nor part-time contingent faculty at PLU have managerial status at the University and therefore could be included in the bargaining unit. In reaching this decision on the managerial status of faculty, the Board revised its framework under the 1980 Supreme Court decision in Yeshiva University, greatly simplifying a complicated, confusing test that was out of step with the realities of the business of higher education. The new tests in these two key areas of law will reverberate across the country, and advance and secure organizing rights for all higher education faculty.
Importantly, the Board cites the “corporatization” of higher education which has dramatically changed how our colleges and universities are run. By acknowledging this new reality, this decision will allow thousands of faculty members to unite their voices and form a union who previously would have faced hurdles in exercising their right to organize under the law.
“Today, institutions of higher learning look increasingly like big businesses because corporate boards and administrations have marginalized the most important job on campus — teaching,” said SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry. “We welcome the NLRB ruling as a step towards justice for faculty and the students they teach.”
“While our journey to form a union began over two years ago, my adjunct and contingent faculty colleagues had been working to address our working conditions long before that,” said Dr. Jane Harty, Lecturer in Music at Pacific Lutheran University. “With the National Labor Relations Board ruling, I hope our administration will finally choose to talk to us about our working conditions rather than continuing to spend tens of thousands of education dollars pursuing an anti-union legal strategy. We are ready to work with them to help PLU be successful in fulfilling its own remarkable mission.”
“This decision is a victory for Pacific Lutheran University faculty, students and for the democratic process at colleges and universities all across the country because it will allow faculty to have a stronger voice to re-focus resources on student learning,” said Henry.
