7ORKSHOP$ #URRENT,ABOR2ELATIONS)SSUESIN(IGHER%DUCATION 7ILLIAM!(ERBERT %SQ 0ANEL#HAIR $ISTINGUISHED,ECTURER (UNTER#OLLEGE %XECUTIVE$IRECTOR .ATIONAL#ENTERFORTHE3TUDYOF#OLLECTIVE"ARGAININGIN(IGHER%DUCATION .9# -AIREAD%#ONNOR %SQ ,AW/FFICESOF-AIREAD%#ONNOR 0,,# 3YRACUSE 0ETER$#ONRAD %SQ 0ROSKAUER2OSE,,0 .9# University Petitions Filed/Election Results1 1. CASES PENDING AT THE REGIONAL OFFICE LEVEL A. NOT BEING PROCESSED BY THE NLRB CORNELL UNIVERSITY Private Election Procedure Negotiated by Parties Case Status: Open On March 6, 2017, Graduate Students United, CGSU-AFT notified Cornell of its intent to file a petition. An election was held by manual ballot on March 27 and 28. As of March 29, the second of two days of voting, the ballot count was inconclusive: 856 votes in favor of the Union, 919 votes against representation, and 81 challenged ballots. The Union’s remains unresolved. Since the election, CGSU and the University have been in negotiations for a new agreement that would establish ground rules in that the Union wishes to proceed to a new election. CGSU recently presented the possibility of a new election to its membership in a referendum with three options: file objections to the original election with the arbitrator, agree to language amending the election agreement, or accept the results of the election hled last Spring. Voting on the referendum began on October 16, 2017. A decision by CGSU on how it will proceed is anticipated in January 2018. B. BEING PROCESSED BY THE NLRB UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Case No. 04-RC-199609 Case Status: Open GET-UP UPenn filed a petition on May 30, 2017. Penn is represented by Ballard Spahr; the Union is represented by Willig, Williams & Davidson and Livingston Adler Pulda Meiklejohn & Kelly. A hearing was held in June 2017. Post-hearing briefs were submitted on July 14, and on December 19 a Decision and Direction of Election was issued by the Board scheduling a manual ballot election at a date and time to be determined. The bargaining unit was expanded by the Regional Director under the Board’s recent decision in PCC Structurals (overruling Specialty Healthcare) to include grad students in several schools at Penn who were excluded by the Union. HARVARD UNIVERSITY Case No. 01-RC-186442 Case Status: Open A petition was filed by Harvard Grad Students Union, HGSU-UAW, on October 18, 2016. Harvard is represented Morgan, Brown & Joy; the Union is represented by Segal Roitman and Livingston Adler Pulda Meiklejohn & Kelly. The vote was by manual ballot on November 16 and 17, 2016, pursuant to a Stipulated Election Agreement. Employee status was not challenged 1 Current as of Dec. 29, 2017. The panelists acknowledge with gratitude the work of Paul Salvatore and Steven J. Porzio, Esqs., Prokauer Rose LLP, for their work in compiling this summary. and litigated. All students providing instructional services at Harvard, including graduate and undergraduate students, were eligible to vote. The total number of eligible voters was 3,556. The vote was 1,272 for the union and 1,456 against; 314 ballots were challenged. An objections and challenges hearing was held beginning on February 22, 2017. On April 19, 2017, a hearing officer’s report, adopted by the Regional Director, was issued on the objections and challenged ballots, finding that Harvard had not complied with the voter list requirements and a new election was ordered in the event that upon issuance of a final tally of ballots the union did not receive a majority of the valid votes counted. Harvard appealed on May 3, 2017. On December 12, 2017 the Board issued a decision denying Harvard’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Direction of a Second Election. The case is now being processed in the Regional Office. 2. CASES PENDING BEFORE THE BOARD YALE UNIVERSITY Case No. 01-RC-183014, et al. Case Status: Open Unite-Here, Local 33, filed 10 representation petitions for departmental “microunits” on August 29, 2016. Yale is represented by Proskauer; the Union is represented by McCracken, Stemerman & Holsberry, and Livingston Adler Pulda Meiklejohn & Kelly. The petitoned-for teaching fellows were those providing instructional services in the following academic departments: History of Art, Mathematics, History, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Geology and Geophysics, Political Science, Physics, English, Sociology and Comparative Literature (which was later withdrawn). A 17-day hearing began on September 12, in which the principal issue litigated was the apporiateness of the 10 individual departmental units; Yale was not permitted to litigate fully the empoolye status of its teaching fellows. Four months later, the Regional Director directed 9 separate elections by manual ballot. (UNITE HERE did not request a mail ballot.) The elections were held on February 23, 2017. The Union won in 6 departments, and lst in 1 department (Physics); the outcomes in East Asian Languages and Literatures and Political Science were inconclusive due to determinative challenged ballots. Prior to a hearing to resolve the challenges in those two departments, UNITE HERE withdrew its challenges, resulting in additional wins for the union. A request for review is pending regarding the micro-unit issue; however in light of the NLRB’s December 15 decision in PCC Structurals, Inc., which overturned Specialty Healthcare, it is presently uncertain how the NLRB will proceed on that request. BOSTON COLLEGE Case No. 01-RC-194148 Case Status: Open A petition was filed by Boston College Graduate Employee Union – UAW (BCGEU-UAW) on March 3, 2017. Boston College is represented by Morgan, Brown & Joy, and the Union is represented by Livingston Adler Pulda Meiklejohn & Kelly. A Decision and Direction of Election was issued by the Regional Director on May 17, holding that the Boston College graduate students were entitlteld to an election on representation despite Boston College’s religious affiliation. However, given that the spring term had concluded by the time the decision 2 was issued, an election was deferred to September 12 and 13. In that election, 270 votes were cast for the Union, 224 votes against the Union, and 16 ballots were challenged. A Certification of Representative was issued on September 25. A request for review was filed with the Board and is still pending. On October 13, a Motion to Intervene and for Recusal by Board Member Kaplan was filed. The University filed an opposition on October 25, which has not yet been decided. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Case No. 13-RC-198325 Case Status: Open On May 8, 2017, a petition was filed by Graduate Students United (GSU), AFT-AAUP. The University of Chicago is represented by Proskauer. The Union is represented by Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich. A hearing was held from May 22 to June 2. The parties agreed during the hearing to a manual ballot election during the fall quarter; initially the union proposed a mail ballot during the summer session. A Decision and Direction of Election was issued by the Regional Director on August 8, finding that the University of Chicago graduate students were employees as defined in Columbia University. The University filed a request for review on September 22. On October 12, a Motion to Intervene and for Recusal by Board Member Kaplan was filed. On October 19, the ballots were counted. The Union won, 1103 to 479, with 149 challenged ballots. A Certification of Representative was issued on October 27, 2017. 3. CASES IN WHICH NO APPEAL WAS TAKEN OR APPEAL WAS DENIED AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING HAS COMMENCED A. SCHOOLS REFUSING TO BARGAIN THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK Case No. 02-RC-143012 Case Status: Closed On December 17, 2014, the Graduate Students of Columbia (GWC) with the UAW filed a petition. Columbia is represented by Proskauer, and the Union is represented by Livingston Adler Pulda Meiklejohn & Kelly. Initially, the students were found not to be employees, and on February 6, 2015, the petition was dismissed. The Union appealed, and on March 13, 2015, the case was remanded for a hearing. An election was later directed and held on December 7 and 8, 2016. All student employees (graduate and undergraduate) who provided instructional services were eligible to vote, including those who had provided such services within the preceding year. A total of 4,256 students were determined to be eligible. The votes were counted on December 9. The Union won 1,602 to 623, with 647 cjhallenged ballots. On December 16, 2016, Columbia filed objections to conduct affecting the outcome of the election, and requested that the results be vacated and that a new election be held. The hearing officer recommended that the objections be overruled. The University filed exceptions to the hearing officer’s report. On December 18, 2017 the NLRB issued a its decision denying the University’s request for review and certified the unit. 3 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Case No. 13-RC-189548 Case Status: Closed on 2/17/2017 A petition was filed on December 9, 2016 by SEIU. Loyola was represented by Franczek Radelet, and the union was represented by a legal representative from SEIU. An election was ordered for all full-time and regular part-time Graduate Assistants (PhD and Masters students) on the main campus, approximately 210 eligible voters in all. The vote was held by mail ballot, which were opened and counted on February 8, 2017. The union won by 71 to 49. There were no challenged ballots. The NLRB issued a decision that reversing the Regional Director’s finding with respect to the Department of Theology on the ground that it had a specific role in maintaining the University’s religious educational environment, applying Pacific Lutheran. However, because there were only 14 eligible voters in the Theology Department, the petitioner’s certification was unaffected.