An aerial view of the University of ChicagoTOM ROSSITER, UCHICAGO CREATIVE AND UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONSIn a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election last October, University of Chicago graduate students voted to authorize Graduate Students United (GSU) as their collective bargaining representative. Last week (February 14), the union reversed course. GSU announced that it has now withdrawn from the federal review process to have legal certification behind its negotiating authority, and is instead seeking recognition of the union directly from the university.
“The reason we withdrew is because even before we voted in the election in October the university administration filed a request for review with the [NLRB] challenging our status as workers,” says sixth-year evolutionary biology graduate student Daniela Palmer, who is a GSU departmental organizer. “There’s a high likelihood that the [NLRB] would, in the near future, have heard that request, so basically that jeopardized our own status as workers and the status of all grad employees at other institutions.”
On top of concerns about the administration’s challenge to the union status, politics is weighing in on the decision. The NLRB—a federal agency that supervises employees’ right to organize—has five board members who are nominated by the US President and approved by Congress. Since President ...
