U Missouri Grad Students Can Unionize: State Supreme Court

After a series of appeals from the university, Missouri courts have ruled for the third time that students have collective bargaining rights.

Written byEmily Makowski
| 2 min read

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The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected the University of Missouri’s appeal of a case that gives student workers employee status and collective bargaining rights, marking the end of three years of legal back-and-forth on the issue, according to KRCG.

In April 2016, University of Missouri (UM) graduate students voted to unionize, but UM refused to recognize the results, according to The Columbia Missourian. Graduate students in UM’s Coalition of Graduate Workers filed a lawsuit against the university a month later, reports KBIA.

The newest court decision, from October 29, is the third consecutive court ruling against UM. In June 2018, the Boone County Circuit Court ruled that grad students were employees and could unionize. After the university appealed the decision, the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals ruled in July 2019 that students can be considered employees.

The case will now go to the state trial court, which will decide ...

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