NATIONAL CENTER
for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions
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Follow Us on Twitter @HigherEd_CB for News from Around the Country
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Welcome to the latest issue of the National Center's monthly newsletter.
As summer winds down and autumn on the horizon, we want to share with you some recent research-based stories concerning collective bargaining and unionization.
First, a couple of reminders. The deadline for proposals in response to our Call for Papers for the 2020 Annual Conference in New York City is
September 6, 2019. In addition, we encourage you to register for the National Center's regional conference to be held at California State University, Long Beach on December 6-7, 2019.
In this month's newsletter, we announce a new study on strikes in higher education by our Executive Director William A Herbert (Hunter College, CUNY) and National Center Affiliated Researcher Jacob Apkarian (York College, CUNY).
We also report on Illinois granting collective bargaining rights to graduate assistants, recent changes to collective bargaining laws in Oregon, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, an adjunct faculty representation election scheduled for Santa Fe College in Florida, SEIU's pending petition to represent adjunct faculty at Valencia College, a Vermont state court ruling with important implications for the representation of on-line faculty and more.
Scroll down to see all of the featured stories, keep up-to-date and get informed. And, as
always, if you have comments or story ideas please
email us or contact us via Twitter.
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2020 Annual Conference Deadline for Proposals: September 6, 2019
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September 6, 2019
is the deadline for proposals in response to the National Center's
Call for Papers
for our 47th annual labor-management conference in New York City on March 29-31, 2020.
The theme of the conference will be
Inequality, Collective Bargaining, and Higher Education.
We welcome proposals involving recent research as well as proposals by authors of recently published books relevant to higher education, inequality, collective bargaining, labor relations, or labor history.
Those interested in proposing a panel or workshop should upload an abstract to
2020 Abstract Dropbox
that includes a title and description along with a list of invited participants including their title, affiliation, and contact information. Questions concerning the call for papers should be emailed to
2020 National Center Annual Conference
.
Proposed Topics for Papers and Presentations
We seek proposed papers and presentations on relevant and timely topics including but not limited to the following:
The Financing of Higher Education
Negotiating Over Student Debt
Pell Grants, College Affordability, and Inequality
Resolving Accommodation Issues for Faculty, Staff, and Students
Diversity: Best Practices for Faculty and Administrators
Affirmative Action in Higher Education in the 21st Century
Recruitment and Retention of Latina/Latino Faculty and Administrators
Collective Bargaining Over Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation
Higher Education, Immigration Status, and Enforcement
Bargaining Over Wage Disparities on Campus
Community College Collective Bargaining Issues
W.E.B. Du Bois, Higher Education, and Labor
Investigating and Handling Cases Involving Discipline
Processing and Determining Contract Grievances
Health and Safety: Best Practices on Campus
Bargaining Over School Consolidations and Closures
Non-NLRB Procedures for Private Sector Representation
Contingent Faculty, Job Security, and Academic Freedom
Graduate Student Employee Unionization and Collective Bargaining
The Meaning and Implications of the Strike Wave of 2018-19 for Higher Education
The Duty of Fair Representation in Faculty and GSE Representation
New Developments and Research in Online Learning
Collective Bargaining and Professional Employees
Labor-Management Relations Involving Public/Private Partnerships
Free Speech, Activism, and Controversies on Campus
Proposed Topics for Interactive Workshops
We seek interactive workshop proposals for the 2020 annual conference. The following are some proposed topics:
Collective Bargaining for Administrators with New Bargaining Units
Digital Technology for Union Membership Mobilization
Best Practices for Handling Employee Sexual Harassment Claims
Leadership Training for Campus and Union Leaders
Preparing and Presenting Grievances in Arbitration
Developing Student Debt Clinics on Campus
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National Center Regional Conference, December 6-7, CSU Long Beach
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Regional Conference on Higher Education
Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
T
he National Center will be holding a regional conference in California on December 6-7, 2019 at California State University, Long Beach.
Keynote Speaker
:
Ruben J. Garcia
,
Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Workplace Law Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law.
Professor Garcia is a specialist in labor and employment law, law and social change, immigration policy, and international human rights law.
Below is a list of currently confirmed panels for the regional conference: Additional panels will be announced in the coming months.
Plenary: Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education with Frazier Benya, Senior Program Officer, Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Sharon Inkelas, Professor and former Chair of the Linguistics Department, University of California, Berkeley,
Ana Avendano, President, Minga Strategies and former Assistant to the AFL-CIO President, and Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, Moderator.
Do Adjunct Faculty Have Academic Freedom? with Kristen Edwards, Lecturer in History and Political Science, Notre Dame du Namur University and Stanford University Continuing Studies, Deirdre Frontczak, Lecturer and member, Faculty Council at Santa Rosa Junior College, Edward Inch, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, California State University, East Bay, and Henry Reichman, Chair AAUP Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, Professor Emeritus of History, California State University, East Bay, and author of
The Future of Academic Freedom
, Panelist and Moderator.
Best Practices in Investigating and Responding to Disciplinary Issues with V. Jesse Smith, Representation Specialist, California Faculty Association, Missy A. Matella, Associate General Counsel, University of Oregon, and Andrea Dooley, Arbitrator (panel In formation).
Community Colleges: Student Centered Funding Formula and Reemployment Preferences for Part-Time Faculty with Eric Kaljumagi, President, CCA, Kindred Murillo, Superintendent/President, Southwestern College, Leticia Pastrana, Imperial Valley College, and
Bill Scroggins,
President/CEO Mt. San Antonio College, Moderator.
Academic Workers and Immigration Status with Sandip Roy, President, UAW Local 4123, Alli Carlisle, Chief Negotiator, UAW Local 2865, Joseph J. Jelincic III, Senior Manager of Systemwide Labor Relations/Collective Bargaining Specialist, California State University, Natasha Baker,
Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP, and Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Moderator.
The Old Wolf, Again: Latinx Faculty Negotiations, Recruitment, Retention, and Racism in the Academy with Martha Garcia, President, Imperial Valley Community College, John Halcon, Member, Board of Trustees, Palomar Community College, Elsa Dias, Colorado Community College, and Theresa Montaño, California State University Northridge, California Faculty Association, Moderator (panel in formation).
Collective Bargaining in the Post-Janus Age with J. Felix De La Torre, General Counsel, California Public Employment Relations Board, Kerianne Steele, Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld, and Timothy G. Yeung, Sloan Sakai Yeung Wong LLP.
Best Practices in Preparing for Bargaining Impasses
with
John Swarbrick, Associate Vice Chancellor, Labor and Employee Relations, California State University, Brian Young, Senior Labor Relations Representative, California State University Employees Union, Jackson E. Parham, Attorney, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, Carolyn Richie, Field Representative, California Federation of Teachers, and Loretta van der Pol, Director, California State Mediation and Conciliation Service, Moderator.
Bargaining for the Common Good in Higher Education with
Mia McIver, President, University Council, AFT, Peter Chester, Executive Director, Labor Relations, University of California, Will Surbrook, Vice Chancellor, Human Resources, San Diego Community College District, and Theodore Curry, Associate Provost, Associate Vice President, Michigan State University, Moderator (panel in formation).
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New National Center Research on Strikes in Higher Education
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The study analyzes work stoppage data in calendar years 2012-2018 involving academic and non-academic employees at higher education institutions. It contextualizes the recent data through a review of the history of unionization and strikes in the field of education along with faculty strike data for the period 1966-1994.
The researchers found that there was a total of 42 strikes and one lock-out involving faculty, graduate assistants, and non-academic employees in higher education during the seven-year period from 2012 to 2018. The largest number of strikes per annum was in 2018, which was more than double the number in 2017. Exactly one-half of all strikes during the seven-year period were by non-academic employees, one-third of the strikes by faculty, and one-sixth by graduate assistants. The states with the greatest number of strikes were Illinois, California, and Washington.
In 2012-2018, there was a total of 14 faculty strikes with an average of 2.0 per year. In comparison, there was a total of 172 faculty strikes with an average of 5.9 per year during the period 1966-1994. Non-tenure-track faculty were involved in 93% of all faculty strikes in 2012-2018, seven strikes with tenure-track faculty and six without.
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Illinois Extends Collective Bargaining Rights to Graduate Assistants
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On August 16, 2019, Illinois Governor
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law an
amendment
to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act that eliminates the statutory exclusion of graduate teaching and research assistants from the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. The amendment is effective January 1, 2020.
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Post-
Janus
Legislation in Oregon, Rhode Island, and Hawaii
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In last month's newsletter, we reported on recent changes to Maine's public sector collective bargaining law. This month, we report on similar post-
Janus legislation in Oregon, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.
Oregon
Effective January 1, 2020, Oregon's
public sector law will require public employers to grant reasonable access by a union to meet with bargaining unit employees.
For newly hired employees, the public employer must permit the union to meet with a new employee for no more than 2 hours within 30 calendar days from the date of hire without loss of compensation or benefits. The meeting will take place during the employer's new employee orientation. If an orientation is not conducted, the union can meet new employees individually or as a group.
For all other employees, reasonable access by the union will include the right to meet with workers during their regular working hours and at their regular work locations to investigate and discuss grievances, workplace-related complaints, and other matters relating to employment relations. It also means that the union has a right to conduct
meetings at regular work locations before or after their regular work hours, or during break periods.
Under the new amendments, public employers will be required to provide to a union the following information in digital form about each bargaining unit member: a) name; b) date of hire; c) contact information including personal and office telephone numbers and email addresses; d) home or personal mailing address; e) job title; f) salary; and g) work location. For newly hired workers, the information must be provided within 10 calendar days of hire. For all other employees, the public employer must provide the information to the union every 120 calendar days. Unions will also have the statutory right to use the employer's e-mail system to communicate with bargaining unit members with respect to c
ollective bargaining, the investigation of grievances, and other workplace dispute, and the governance of the union.
Rhode Island
Effective July 8, 2019, Rhode Island's public sector law was
amended to permit unions to charge non-members with a reasonable fee for "administrative matters" that includes grievances and arbitration. In addition, under the recent amendment, public employers are required to notify the union of the hiring of all new employees in the bargaining unit within five days of hire. The amendment also prohibits supervisors from endorsing a particular union or discriminating against an employee based on membership in a union.
Hawaii
Under a recent
amendment to Hawaii's public sector collective bargaining law, Hawaii public employers, effective October 1, 2019, will be required, upon request, to provide a union the following information about bargaining unit employees: a) name; b) mailing address; c) physical worksite address; d) date of change of physical worksite address; e) organizational structure, including name and codes for department, division, branch, section, and unit, or equivalent, as applicable; f) worksite telephone number; g) job title; h) job description; i) position number; j) employee identification number; k) appointment type; l) civil service status; m) social security number; n) bargaining unit; o) date of change in bargaining unit status of the employee; p) full-time equivalence of the employee; q) the employee's leave without pay status with effective dates and duration; r) basic rate of pay; s) types and effective dates of personnel actions that affect the amount and payment of the basic rate of pay; t) salary scale and range or equivalent; salary step or equivalent; amounts and dates of differential pay; u) amounts and dates of dues deductions; and v) amounts and dates of other authorized voluntary payroll deductions remitted to the union.
Hawaii public employers will have to provide the above information within a reasonable time after receipt of the union's written request, and in a form conducive to electronic data processing so long as the employer has that capability with respect to new employees, public employers must provide the information within two payroll periods following the date of hire.
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Santa Fe College: Adjunct Representation Election Scheduled
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Board of Trustees of Santa Fe College, FPERC Case No. RC-2018-046
The Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (FPERC) has
ordered an election concerning SEIU's petition to represent 636 part-time adjunct faculty at Santa Fe College in Florida. The election will be conducted by mail ballot, with the ballots due back to FPERC by September 19, 2019.
The following is the at-issue adjunct unit at Santa Fe College:
Included: All part-time adjunct faculty employed by Santa Fe College who teach, co-teach, or team teach one or more courses (whether credit-bearing or non-creditbearing)
at any of the following locations: Northwest Campus, Andrews Center, Blount Center, Davis Center, Kirkpatrick Center, Perry Center, or the Watson Center, in addition to part-time adjunct faculty who teach one or more clinical courses and/or one or more online courses offsite.
Excluded: All tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time faculty, employees covered by an existing collective bargaining agreement, full-time employees of the College who also teach a class as an adjunct instructor, community outreach instructors, instructors
who teach corporate training seminars, administrators, guards, all supervisory, managerial, and confidential employees, and all other employees of Santa Fe College.
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Valencia College: SEIU Files Petition to Represent Adjunct Faculty
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Board of Trustees of Valencia College, FPERC Case No. RC-2019-019
On July 19, 2019, SEIU filed with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission a petition to represent a unit of approximately 620 part-time adjunct faculty working for Valencia College. An amended representation petition was subsequently filed, and the case is now
scheduled for a telephonic hearing on September 16, 2019.
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Vermont State Colleges: On-Line PT Faculty Require Separate Unit
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In Re Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, AFT Local 3180,
Supreme Court of Vermont, Docket No. 2018-372
On August 2, 2019, the Supreme Court of Vermont issued a
decision upholding a ruling by the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB) dismissing a representation petition filed by the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, AFT Local 3180 to add
part-time
faculty
employed in the Johnson State College distance-learning program to an existing part-time
faculty
collective bargaining unit at the Vermont State Colleges.
VLRB dismissed the representation petition on the grounds that the proposed unit was inappropriate because the part-time distance-learning
faculty
do not share a sufficient community of interests with
faculty
in the existing unit. The agency found that the distance-learning faculty teach online courses exclusively and the courses are designed and presented in a significantly different manner than campus-based courses taught by part-time faculty already in the bargaining unit. The agency also found that online interactions with students is significantly different from faculty-student interactions on campus.
If followed by other states, this decision will have a significant impact on unionization and collective bargaining involving faculty who teach on-line courses exclusively by requiring them to be represented in separate bargaining units from other college faculty.
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OHSU: AFSCME Complaint Over Administrator's Social Media Use
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Oregon Health and Science University, OERB Case No. UP-014-19
On August 8, 2019, AFSCME Council 75 filed a
complaint
with the Oregon Employment Relations Board alleging that administrators at the Oregon Health and Science University used their personal and/or professional Twitter and Facebook accounts to pose as bargaining unit employees to criticize the union's contract proposals and bargaining team, and to make negative an inaccurate statements about membership dues.
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State of Washington: AFSCME Files to Represent State Attorneys
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Washington Office of the Attorney General,
WPERC Case No. 131954-E-19
On July 29, 2019, AFSCME Council 28 filed a
petition
with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission seeking to represent a unit of 569 non-supervisory assistant attorneys general in the Washington Office of the Attorney General.
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NCAA: Division I Football Players Are Not Employees under FLSA
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Lawson v. National Collegiate Athletic Association,
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Docket No. 17-15973
On August 12, 2019, a federal appeals court issued a
decision affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit by a Division I college football player asserting that he was an employee of the NCAA and the PAC-12 Conference for purposes of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and California labor law. The lawsuit was commenced by former University of Southern California (USC) football player Lamar Dawson claiming that he was an employee of the NCAA and PAC-12.
In affirming the dismissal of the lawsuit, the appellate court reasoned that while the NCAA by-laws substantially regulate college athletics including controlling the lives of student-athletes, neither the NCAA or PAC-12 provided Dawson with a scholarship nor did they have the power to hire or fire him.
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Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Vote in Favor of USW Representation
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Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
, NLRB Case No. 06-RC-245112
On August 14, 2019, the NLRB tallied the ballots in a representation election involving a petition filed by USW to represent all full-time and part-time employees at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. In a unit of approximately 321 employees, 173 voted in favor of USW representation and 106 voted against.
The following is the new bargaining unit at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time library services, support staff, and professional employees at the Employer’s 19 public locations, the Library Support Center, and the substitute pool, including all pages, stock handlers, clerks, senior clerks, library assistants, specialists (children’s, clerical, school outreach, community engagement, and technology support), nonsupervisory librarians, nonsupervisory senior librarians, technicians, development assistants and associates, SQL database administrators, development database administrators, systems administrators, web developers, designers, service integration leads, programs and partnerships assistants, civic data leads, nonsupervisory digitization & special projects leads, and digitization technicians.
Excluded: All temporary employees, guards, shipping drivers, custodial staff, confidential administrative clerical employees, department managers, library services managers, coordinators, unit heads, library services administrators, directors, and supervisors as defined in the Act, including supervisory lead librarians, supervisory senior librarians, clerical supervisors, customer and account services supervisors, and shelving and materials services supervisors.
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Newly Certified Units in the Performing Arts and Journalism
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The following are four newly certified collective bargaining units in the performing arts and in journalism:
Lehigh University
, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-24115
On August 5, 2019, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 200 was certified to represent a unit of approximately 8 full-time and regular part-time stagehands at the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University. The certification followed an election in which the workers voted 7-0 in favor of union representation.
The following is the at-issue bargaining unit at Lehigh University:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time stagehands employed by the Employer at the Zoellner Arts Center located at 420 E. Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA.
Excluded: All other employees, clerical employees, temporary workers, work study students, ticket takers managers, guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Distinguished Concerts International, LLC,
NLRB Case No. 02-RC-244187
On August 16, 2019, NLRB Region 2 tallied the ballots in a case filed by AFM Local 802 seeking tor represent the musicians employed by Distinguished Concerts International, LLC in New York City. The tally demonstrated that in a unit of 167 musicians, 113 voted in favor of AFM representation and 14 voted against.
The following is the at-issue bargaining unit at
Distinguished Concerts International, LLC:
Included: All playing musicians* employed by the Employer at and out of its facility located at 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1610, New York, NY.
Excluded: All other employees, including vocalists, guest artists, office clerical employees, and guards, and professional employees and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago,
NLRB Case No. 13-RC-242259
On August 12, 2019, the Chicago Federation of Musicians, Local 10-208 (AFM) was certified to represent a unit of 32 musicians employed by the Porchlight Music Theatre in Chicago. The certification followed a representation election in which the musicians voted 20-0 in favor of union representation.
The following is the at-issue bargaining unit represented by the Chicago Federation of Musicians at Porchlight Music Theatre:
Included: All musicians employed and paid by Porchlight Music Theatre Chicago to play a musical instrument at a performance produced by the Employer.
Excluded: Executive Director, Artistic Director, Audience Services Manager, Development Director, Institutional Advancement Director, Development Associate, Finance Manager, Finance Associate, Education Associate, Marketing Manager, House Manager, box office employees, ushers, Company & Casting Manager, Production Manager, Dramaturg, interns, Stage Manager, stage crew, designers, costume and wardrobe employees, lighting employees, electrical employees, props employees, sound employees, Director, Choreographer, non-instrumental stage performers, office clerical employees, managerial employees, and professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
Cascade Public Media
, NLRB Case No. 19-RC-244486
On August 8, 2019, the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild was certified to represent editorial department employees at Cascade Public Media in Seattle. The certification followed an election in which the employees voted 16-0 in favor of representation by
Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
The following is the new bargaining unit at Cascade Public Media:
Included: All full-time and regular part-time editorial department employees employed at or out of the Employer's Seattle, Washington facility.
Excluded: All other employees, and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.
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Recently Filed Petitions Involving the Performing Arts and Attorneys
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The following are two recently filed representation petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB):
ROA OB LLC c/o KGM Theatrical, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-246999
On August 22, 2019, IATSE filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent wardrobe personnel employed by KGM Theatrical.
The following is the at-issue bargaining unit:
Included: All wardrobe personnel, including dressers, seamstresses, tailors, stitchers, laundry workers, pressers, day workers, those engaged in stocking and restocking costumes, stylists, beaders, dyers, craft workers including all wardrobe personnel performing work in conjunction or connection with shows and all wardrobe personnel who perform the duties commonly performed by a wardrobe employees in the professional theatre, including, but not limited to attending rehearsal and/or fittings when required, being present for pre-sets as required, preparing the cast’s costumes and shoes for performances, dressing of performers, performing costume changes, and maintaining the costume design as required.
Excluded: All other employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act.
Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, Inc., NLRB Case No. 29-RC-247041
On August 22, 2019, the Suffolk County Legal Aid Attorneys Association filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 107 staff attorney employed by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.
The following is that at-issue bargaining unit:
Included: All staff attorneys including Senior Staff Attorneys Lead Staff Attorneys and Mentor Staff Attorneys.
Excluded: All other employees including guards and supervisors defined by the Act.
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The National Center Welcomes New Intern Joshua Burton
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The National Center is pleased to welcome Joshua Burton, a second-year law student at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is joining the National Center as part of Cardozo's externship program.
As an undergraduate, Josh double-majored in journalism and economics at Northwestern University. His interests include labor law, collective bargaining, sports law, and the history of labor organizing in the United States. He is originally from East Rockaway, New York.
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Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Vol. 10
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The National Center's
Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, is a peer review multi-disciplinary journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Eastern Illinois University (Emeritus), and Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona. The following are links to articles in Volume 10:
Op-Eds
Articles
Practitioner Perspectives
We encourage scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor relations, and labor history to submit research articles, op-eds, and practitioner perspectives for potential publication.The Journal is particularly interested in contributions related to collective bargaining and unionization issues in the post-Janus world.
The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University.
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National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining
in Higher Education and the Professions
Hunter College, City University of New York
425 E 25th St.
Box 615
New York, NY 10010
Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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