We are delighted to introduce the Power At Work Blog's newest feature: #ThrowbackThursday! This feature should spark your interest in looking back at some of the excellent content we have posted since beginning this blog on December 1, 2022.
This week's #ThrowbackThursday focuses on posts about worker power within the university system. Universities are incredibly diverse workplaces, and this post is designed to provide insight on worker power issues in universities across the country. In this post, we highlight stories about student athletes, contract faculty at NYU, and Northeastern University dining hall workers in their fights to organize unions and bargain with their employer schools.
Student Athletes are "Employees." And That's Just the Beginning (posted on March 8th, 2023)
Burnes Center Senior Fellow Seth Harris discusses the unfair labor practice (ULP) practice filed by the NLRB’s Regional Director against the University of Southern California, the Pac-12 Conference (in which USC plays its football and basketball games), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The complaint alleges, among other things, that these “respondents” committed ULPs by illegally misclassifying their student-athletes as “non-employees” and giving them the “you-must-smile” direction. This direction, and other directions about student-athletes should communicate, interfere with these athlete-employees’ right to organize, according to the complaint.
"My future is not as stable as I thought": Inside NYU Contract Faculty's Fight for Union Recognition (posted on March 26th, 2023)
Earlier this year, Burnes Center’s Dane Gambrell posted an article discussing the full-time faculty in non-tenured track positions at New York University and their demands that the university administration recognize their union. Universities across the country are increasingly dependent on contract faculty to fill both teaching and research roles, which sparked a group organizing a union called Contract Faculty United-UAW to present NYU’s administration with a petition signed by a majority of contract faculty urging the university to agree to a “fair and neutral process” for voluntarily recognizing their union. These workers say they lack the job security - and many of the benefits - afforded to faculty members in tenured positions.
Northeastern University's Dining Hall Workers Secured a Historic Contract Victory. Here's How They Did It. (posted on February 23rd, 2023)
In September 2022, the Northeastern University dining hall workers employed by Chartwells Dining Services approved the most lucrative contract in the history of their union local, UNITE HERE Local 26. The contract will see workers’ pay triple over the course of 14 years, quadrupled pension plan contributions, and guaranteed sick day coverage, among other wins. At a time when Northeastern’s graduate student employees are organizing their own union in pursuit of better benefits and higher wages, the dining hall workers’ impressive victory begs an important question: How did they do it?