{"id":9219,"date":"2017-05-22T04:30:40","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T04:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=9219"},"modified":"2017-05-23T04:33:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T04:33:32","slug":"yale-grad-students-hunger-strike-cant-turn-the-tide-for-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/yale-grad-students-hunger-strike-cant-turn-the-tide-for-labor\/","title":{"rendered":"Yale grad students’ hunger strike can’t turn the tide for labor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raymond Hogler<\/a>, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

On April 24, graduate students at Yale University announced a hunger strike<\/a> in support of Local 33 of Unite Here<\/a>, a labor union that represents workers in a variety of industries (including higher education) in dozens of cities across North America. On May 22 \u2013 nearly a month later \u2013 more than 1,000 protesters joined the cause during Yale\u2019s commencement. \"The<\/p>\n

Their demands? They want Yale to recognize their union and negotiate a labor agreement. The students hope that a contract would ensure them fair wages, mental health care insurance, better protections against gender discrimination and other benefits that faculty enjoy. This is largely in response to the trend in higher education toward casual labor<\/a>, like graduate student teachers taking on some of the course load of full-time tenure-track professors. <\/p>\n

As a scholar of labor and employment relations, I view the hunger strike from a broader perspective of national and state law. Collective bargaining in higher education \u2013 and throughout the U.S. \u2013 is likely to see significant change under the presidency of Donald Trump. Those changes will affect workers in universities and throughout private and public employment.<\/p>\n

\n \"\"
\n Protesters gather on Yale\u2019s campus near a tent constructed as part of the Local 33 protest.<\/span>
\n Local 33- Unite Here<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yale and Local 33<\/h2>\n

The case at Yale offers an instructive example of the legal environment that regulates how unions operate in the private sector \u2013 including at private universities like Yale.<\/p>\n

Local 33\u2019s organizing strategy at Yale relied on the controversial principle of the \u201cmicro-unit,\u201d a subset of employees who can organize and negotiate on issues that impact a larger group of employees. In the case of Yale, nine micro-units were created along departmental lines. That meant that only a small population of graduate student teachers, 228 out of approximately 2600 in total, participated in the vote for unionization.<\/p>\n

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) currently endorses the \u201cmicro-unit\u201d concept. Pro-management organizations, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce<\/a> lobbying group, have expressed strong opposition<\/a> to \u201cmicro-units,\u201d criticizing them as contrary to workers\u2019 interests and to efficient collective bargaining. Smaller units, from the union perspective, are easier and less costly to organize.<\/p>\n

Yale is challenging this doctrine<\/a> in the Local 33 case, claiming that:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe low vote count (under 9 percent) was due to Local 33\u2019s \u2018micro-unit strategy\u2019 of holding nine separate union elections, and preventing students in the rest of the school\u2019s departments from having a say on the question of unionization.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The legal framework<\/h2>\n
\n \"\"
\n Senator Robert Wagner testifying before the Senate Education and Labor Subcommittee in regards to the National Labor Relations Act in 1938.<\/span>
\n Library of Congress, LC-DIG-hec-24280<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Senator Robert Wagner wrote the National Labor Relations Act<\/a> of 1935 (the Wagner Act), he made important choices about collective action and the American framework of government. For instance, the NLRA is the reason why public universities, as government entities, are governed by state labor laws, while Yale, as a private university, is regulated by the NLRA and federal law.<\/p>\n

Another key decision Wagner made was to expedite the union election process by deferring legal questions<\/a> until after voters had made the choice regarding representation. At Yale, the students voted to unionize using the \u201cmicro-unit\u201d strategy, and it\u2019s only at this point in the process that a legal determination on the issue can be litigated. <\/p>\n

Yale\u2019s opposition to the unit will be reviewed in federal court only if Yale refuses to bargain with the union and the National Labor Relations Board issues an unfair labor practice charge. By not dealing with the union, Yale is taking a necessary step to test the legality of the \u201cmicro-units.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for higher education?<\/h2>\n

The events at Yale raise an important policy issue \u2013 one whose resolution will initially depend on President Trump and, subsequently, on the federal courts.<\/p>\n

As the situation now stands, Trump can immediately fill two vacancies on the five-member National Labor Relations Board. One current member, Chairman Phillip Miscimarra, is a Republican appointed by former President Barack Obama, and his term extends through 2017. According to reports, Trump is considering three conservative lawyers<\/a> for the board vacancies, two of whom work for pro-management law firms. The new Republican majority can be expected to overturn rulings from the previous board, including rules about micro-units and union elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With these appointments in place, the Yale micro-unit that formed Local 33 would likely be overturned, leaving no union of graduate student teachers in place to negotiate for a labor contract. Indeed, critics of the university\u2019s tactics accuse Yale of trying to wait out negotiations<\/a> until the new appointees are in place.<\/p>\n

Beyond the private sector<\/h2>\n

Changes are also taking place for public sector unions. As in the private sector, the altered political environment will work to disadvantage labor organizations in public higher education.<\/p>\n

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has actively worked against collective bargaining. His anti-unionism includes a 2012 case involving California teachers, where Alito took the constitutional position that government workers should be given the choice to \u201copt in<\/a>\u201d to union dues payments rather than be forced to \u201copt out.\u201d Such a rule would deliver a lethal blow to public sector unions \u2013 including unions at public universities. Without mandatory dues payments, the union\u2019s ability to bargain effectively is severely undermined because of a lack of resources necessary to conduct bargaining. <\/p>\n

In 2016, the death of Antonin Scalia was considered the only thing that stopped Alito\u2019s attack on unions<\/a>. The National Right to Work Foundation<\/a> has a case in the judicial pipeline<\/a> that presents another opportunity for Alito. This time, newly appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch (a supposed Scalia clone<\/a>) will likely tip the scales toward a legal defeat for public unions.<\/p>\n

The end game<\/h2>\n

After 14 days of protest \u2013 with three Yale strikers continuing to fast \u2013 the university issued a statement officially criticizing the strikers<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201c\u2026actions this week by members of Local 33 raise concerns about the safety and well-being of the demonstrators and about their apparent disregard for longstanding university policies and principles regarding the appropriate time, place and manner for exercising freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The situation at Yale reflects the deteriorating condition of the American labor movement, which has suffered declining membership density since the 1950s<\/a>. Richard Freeman<\/a>, a well-known labor relations scholar, argues that political forces have degraded the bargaining environment through a \u201cwar\u201d on unions and collective action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Yale\u2019s opposition to Local 33\u2019s demands is neither unusual nor unexpected. Employers in this country have a long history of resisting unions, as I show in my book on labor decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s campaign promises to better the economic situation of working-class white men<\/a>, the president is unlikely to reverse the downward trend in unionization and incomes. The Trump appointees to the NLRB and the Supreme Court most probably will not promote stronger labor organization in the U.S. In the immediate future, his policies will impact the Yale students, who are fighting to be treated more like the faculty whose classes they teach. But those most negatively affected over the long run will be the white, non-college-educated men who make up the backbone<\/a> of labor unions \u2013 the same workers largely responsible for Trump\u2019s ascendancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raymond Hogler<\/a>, Professor of Management, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raymond Hogler, Colorado State University On April 24, graduate students at Yale University announced a hunger strike in support of Local 33 of Unite Here, a labor union that represents workers in a variety of industries (including higher education) in dozens of cities across North America. On May 22 \u2013 nearly a month later \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":9220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9221,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9219\/revisions\/9221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}