Activity surrounding graduate student unionization efforts at the University of Rochester has recently increased. Graduate students at the University are threatening to engage in a strike starting on April 21.
Typically, seeking to unionize is done by filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency that would conduct a secret ballot election to determine if a majority of graduate students wish to be represented by a union. This is the same process that each of the several groups of unionized employees on our campus used to be recognized.
Here, the graduate students are demanding that the University bypass the NLRB and instead enter into a private election agreement seeking the same recognition. The University is refusing to enter into a private election agreement but is not preventing or interfering with the graduate students from pursuing recognition through a NLRB election. The NLRB has certified unions at several of our peer institutions, including Fordham University, Boston University, Dartmouth College, and Northwestern University.