On August 23, the NLRB ruled that teaching and research assistants at private universities are employees under federal law. This means that graduate students at the University of Chicago can now decide whether or not they want to unionize.

An August 24 email from President Zimmer and Provost Diermeier counsels faculty and graduate students against unionization on the grounds that it undermines the student-adviser relationship.  University deans have followed up with email statements to the same effect. The university has not yet provided a platform to the full campus community to discuss the implications – legal, academic, or otherwise – of the recent NLRB ruling.

The AAUP advocacy chapter at the University of Chicago is extremely pleased to host the following event, an informational talk featuring:

Craig Becker (JD, Yale Law School) has appeared in virtually every federal Court of Appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.  He served on the Obama transition team, and was appointed to the NLRB by President Obama. He has taught at law schools including the University of Chicago, Yale, UCLA, and Georgetown. His writing on labor and employment has appeared in academic journals and the popular press. He has represented employees in both the private and public sectors.

The event, which is co-sponsored with the national AAUP, will consist in a talk by Craig Becker, followed by extensive time for questions and answers from the audience. All graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, staff, and members of the administration are welcome. Please spread the word!

For further questions about the event, please contact Uchicagoaaup@gmail.com.

The statement of the Uchicago AAUP advocacy chapter in response to the letter from president and provost can be found at: https://uchicagoaaup.wordpress.com/

For the statement of the national AAUP, see https://www.aaup.org/news/union-victory-student-employees-private-institutions#.V9w-FLWetTE