We encourage institutions, unions, law firms, and individuals to donate to help support the National Center’s research and programming.

November 2023 Newsletter

In this month's newsletter, we announce the opening of early bird registration for our 51st annual conference, which will take place on March 17-19, 2024 in New York City at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center.

The newsletter contains a list of currently confirmed 51^st annual conference sessions and speakers. Additional conference sessions and participants will be announced soon. We also announce conference sponsorship opportunities and the launch of a new campaign to fund an interactive collective bargaining website.

The newsletter reports on the latest representation election outcomes involving faculty at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland and Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. It also reports on election outcomes involving graduate assistants at Cornell University, Tufts University and Emory University, post-doctoral trainees at Weill Cornell Medical College, and undergraduate student employees at Harvard University. We also report on recently filed representation petitions concerning graduate assistant researchers at New York University and undergraduate student employees at Smith College, Swarthmore College, and Emerson College.

Lastly, the newsletter includes a report on our September 2023 regional conference at the University of Illinois-Chicago, links to video recordings from or 50^th anniversary conference earlier this year, links to articles in the current volume of our Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, announcements about two upcoming books, and job postings.

The National Center's 51st annual national conference will take place on March 17-19, 2024 in New York City. The conference will be held at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College and at the CUNY Graduate Center.

The theme of the conference will be New Crossroads in Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations in Higher Education and the Professions.

Click here to register.

Below is a list of confirmed panels and panelists. Additional panels will be announced in future newsletters and on our website.

Panel: Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decisions: Impact on DEI in Higher Education Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining with Kapil Longani, SUNY Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Channing Cooper, AFT Legal Department Deputy Director, Julie Miceli, Husch Blackwell (invited), and Angela Thompson, Moderator.

Panel: Navigating Generative AI in Higher Education: Implications for Collective Bargaining, Pedagogy, and Research with Rob Weill, AFT Director of Policy, Research and Field Services, Kyle Arnone, AFT Collective Bargaining Center, and Anthony G. Picciano, Professor, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center, School of Education. (panel in formation)

Panel: The First Amendment and the Erosion of Managerial Authority with Martin Malin, Professor Emeritus at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology and Monica C. Barrett, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, and Rachel Paster, New York State United Teachers, Commentators (panel in formation)

Panel: Collaborating Across the Table: The Value of Labor-Management Cooperation in Reversing Contingency to Improve Outcomes for Women Faculty and Students with Carla Katz, JD - NTT Faculty, Bargaining Team Member (Labor), Rutgers University, Kim O’Halloran, PhD - VP of Academic Planning & Administration, Bargaining Team Member (Management), Rutgers University, and Heather Pierce, PhD - Adjunct Faculty, Bargaining Team Member (Labor), Rutgers University. (panel in formation)

Panel: Addressing Institutional Betrayal at the Table: Tackling Harassment and Title IX Issues Through Collective Bargaining with Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and AAUP General Counsel, Karen R. Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University, Alexandra Matish, Associate Vice Provost for Academic and

Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan, Sarah M. Arveson, UAW Local 5810 Vice President – UC Berkeley, and Paula E. Burke, Senior Associate, Huron Consulting, Moderator.

Facilitated Session: Bargaining Over Job Security for Contingent Faculty with Benjamin Superfine, Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Relations, University of Illinois-Chicago and Julie Schmid, AFT Senior Director of Higher Education, Facilitators.

Book Discussion: Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education: A Labor History with Gwendolyn Alker, Associate Arts Professor, Department of Drama, New York University, Joe T. Berry, Ph.D., City College of San Francisco and University of Illinois (retired), COCAL, HELU, Anne McLeer, Director of Higher Education and Strategic Planning, SEIU Local 500, Joseph van der Naald, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY, and Eric Fure-Slocum, Associate Professor of History (Emeritus), co-editor of Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education, Moderator.

Panel: Best Practices in Arbitration with Homer LaRue, Labor Arbitrator, Mediator, and Professor, Howard University Law School, Mark Gaston Pearce, Labor Arbitrator, Visiting Professor and Executive Director, Workers’ Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law School, and Katie Rosen, Labor Arbitrator. (panel in formation) Co-sponsored by the National Academy of Arbitrators.

Panel: Annual Legal Update (CLE) with Henry Morris, Jr., ArentFox Schiff, LLP, Amy L. Rosenberger, Willig, Williams & Davidson, Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, and Brian Selchick, Cullen and Dykman LLP. (panel in formation)

Panel: Enrollment and Degree Attainment in the United States by: Patterns in States with and without Collective Bargaining with Nathaniel J. Bray, Professor, Program Coordinator, Higher Education Administration, Associate Director, Education Policy Center, University of Alabama, Senior Fellow, College Promise, Noel Keeney, Research Associate, Education Policy Center, University of Alabama, F. King Alexander, Professor, Florida Gulf Coast University, Senior Faculty Fellow, Education Policy Center, University of Alabama, Faculty Affiliate, Cornell University, and Higher Education Research Institute Senior Fellow, College Promise, and Stephen G. Katsinas, Professor, Higher Education Administration & Political Science, Director, Education Policy Center, University of Alabama, Senior Fellow, College Promise, Moderator.

Panel: Graduate Student Representation Election Outcomes, 2020-2023: Navigating a New Era of Graduate Student Unionization with Jacob Apkarian, Associate Professor, Sociology, York College, CUNY, Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Commentator, Nicholas DiGiovanni, Partner, Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP, Commentator, and Kathy Collins, Director, Huron Consulting, Moderator.

Facilitated Session: A New Wave: Undergraduate Student Unionization in Higher Education with Cory McCartan, founder, Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers; former bargaining committee member, HGSU-UAW L. 5118 and Joseph Jelincic, Assistant Vice Chancellor in Collective Bargaining at the California State University, Facilitators.

Book Discussion: The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community College with Robin G. Isserles, Author, The Costs of Completion, Professor of Sociology, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, and Grievance Counselor for Full-time Faculty, PSC BMCC Chapter, Christine Mangino, President, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, James McKeever, Sociology, Los Angeles Pierce College, CA, AFT 1521 Faculty Guild President, Brian Kapitulik, Sociology, Greenfield Community College, MA, Department Chair, Social Sciences; Former Acting Dean of Faculty, Colena Sesanker, Associate Professor, Philosophy, Gateway Community College, CT, Member of Board of Regents of CSCU, and Jennifer Shanoski, Chemistry, Merritt College, Oakland California, Moderator.

Panel: Academic Staff Association Responses to Vaccine Mandates in Higher Education Institutions in Canada and the United States with Alison Braley-Rattai, Associate Professor, Department of Labour Studies, Brock University, Larry Savage, Professor, Department of Labour Studies, Brock University, Jean Grassman, Associate Professor, Environmental, Occupational, and Geospatial Health Sciences, CUNY School of Public Health, Kara Laskowski, Professor and Chair, Communication Studies, Shippensburg University and State APSCUF Meet and Discuss Chair, and Jamie McCallum, Associate Professor, Sociology, Middlebury College and author: Essential: How the Pandemic Transformed the Long Fight for Worker Justice, Moderator.

Panel: Trustees’ Perspectives on Collective Bargaining with Susan Solomon, City College of San Francisco Trustee, Mark Gaffney, Wayne State University Board of Governors, and Paul Brown, University of Michigan Board of Regents. (panel in formation)

Panel: Bargaining Issues For Classified, Clerical, and Other Campus Staff with Jeffrey Grider, President, Portland Community College Federation of Classified Employees AFT Local 3922, Christine O'Connell, President, Union of Rutgers Administrators AFT Local 1766, Tony Johnston, President, Cook County College Teachers Union AFT Local 1600, and Andre’ Poplar, Vice Chancellor – Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice, Oakland Community College – District, Moderator.

Panel: Collective Bargaining Concerning Librarians in Higher Education with Meredith Kahn, LEO AFT-MI 6244, Campus Chair, Galleries, Librarians, Archivists and Museums (GLAM) and Librarian for Gender & Sexuality Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Kelly McElroy, United Academics of Oregon State, AAUP/AFT Local 9609, and Consuella Askew, Vice President for University Libraries and University Librarian, Rutgers University Libraries, Moderator. (panel in formation)

Panel: Labor Justice and Labor Studies in Higher Education with Joy Blanchard, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Lutrill and Pearl Payne School of Education, Louisiana State University, Jordan Harper, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Morgan State University, Ananya Malik, MEd, doctoral student, Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, Letitia F. Silas, Labor and Employment Attorney and Consultant, Commentator, and Adrienne Eaton, Dean, Office of the Dean and Distinguished Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER), Rutgers University, Moderator.

Book Discussion: The Right to Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom with Jennifer Ruth, Professor of Film, College of the Arts, Portland State University co-editor, The Right to Learn, Ellen Schrecker, Professor of History, retired, Yeshiva University, co-editor, The Right to Learn, Helena Worthen, labor educator, retired, University of Illinois, School of Labor and Employment Relations, contributor, The Right to Learn, and Charles Toombs, Professor of Africana Studies, San Diego State University; President, California Faculty Association, Moderator.

Book Discussion: Unionizing the Ivory Tower: Cornell Workers' Fifteen-Year Fight for Justice and a Living Wage with Al Davidoff, Organizational and Leadership Development Director, Solidarity Center; Author, Unionizing the Ivory Tower: Cornell Workers' Fifteen-Year Fight for Justice and a Living Wage and Carlos Aramayo, President, United Local 26, Commentator. (panel in formation)

2024 Conference Sponsorships

To help support the National Center and its 51st annual national conference, we encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, organizations, and companies to become a sponsor of our 2024 annual conference. 

Through a conference sponsorship you will demonstrate support for the National Center’s mission, programing, and research agenda.

Major Supporting Partner: $15,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for 3 attendees and a 50% reduction for a fourth;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Opportunity to make introductory remarks at the plenary or mid-day greetings;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a major supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference receptions.

Supporting Partner: $10,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for 2 attendees and a 50% reduction for a third;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Your organization name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a supporting sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference receptions.

Participating Sponsor: $5,000

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Your organization’s logo and link to your site on the National Center website;
• Your organization name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a half-page display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a participating sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

Basic Sponsor: $2,500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as a basic sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

Introductory Sponsor: $1,500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing as a sponsor on the National Center website;
• Your organization’s name referenced in our monthly newsletter;
• Inclusion of a one-quarter display ad in the conference program;
• Listing as an introductory sponsor of the annual conference, webinars and conference breaks.

Friend of the National Center: $500

Benefits:

• Complimentary registration for one conference attendee;
• Listing of your name as a friend of the National Center on our website, newsletter and in the conference program.

2024 Conference Program Advertisements

Another important way to celebrate the National Center’s 51st anniversary and demonstrate support for our mission and research is for your institution, union, law firm, organization or company to place an advertisement in our 2024 conference program.

Full-page advertisement:      $ 1,500

Half-page advertisement:      $   750

Quarter-page advertisement: $  275

Please email us with any questions about sponsorships and ad purchases at: nat_ctr@hunter.cuny.edu

Join the Campaign for an Interactive Collective Bargaining Website

Join the National Center's recently announced campaign to fund a permanent interactive website that will provide access to the National Center's database of information and contracts concerning all academic collective bargaining relationships listed in our upcoming 2024 Directory of Bargaining Agents and Contracts in Institutions of Higher Education.

The funds from the campaign would help build the website and allow us to employ graduate students to maintain the website and regularly update our database with information such as successor agreements and new collective bargaining relationships.

The features of the interactive website would include the ability of negotiators, representatives, and scholars to:

• search our repository of close to 900 current contracts individually or in a group utilizing a word search function.

• search and display variables in our database by institution, bargaining agent, unit composition, and state and would allow the download of data in different formats so that users would be able to analyze the data using their favorite program.

Lastly, the website would include a data entry portal for users to update the data by adding or correcting any data points.

An interactive website will be of immense value to all institutions of higher education, unions representing faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and graduate assistants, law firms representing institutions and unions, as well as scholars of higher education and labor.

Making the interactive website a reality requires financial support. The creation of an operational website may cost as much as $50,000 with additional annual costs to employ graduate students to maintain and update the website.

We, therefore, encourage higher education institutions, unions, law firms, and others to contribute toward the creation and maintenance of the interactive website, which we hope to put online by the end of 2024.

The following are suggested donation amounts to fund the interactive website:

$10,000

$ 5,000

$ 2,500

$ 1,000

$ 500

Other amounts: $250, $100, $50, or $25.Donate Now

Anne Arundel Comm. Coll.: SEIU Certified to Represent PT Faculty Unit

Anne Arundel Community College, SHELRB Case No. EL 2023-01

SEIU Local 500 has been certified by the Maryland State Higher Education Labor Relations Board to represent a unit of 606 part-time faculty at Anne Arundel Community College, following an election in which the faculty voted 163-45 in favor of SEIU representation.

Columbus College of Art and Design Faculty Vote for AFT Representation

Columbus College of Art and Design, NLRB Case No. 09-RC-325680

Columbus College of Art and Design, NLRB Case No. 09-RC-327199

On September 13, 2023, CCAD Faculty Alliance, Ohio Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO (CCAD Faculty Alliance) filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a combined unit of 170 full-time and adjunct faculty at Columbus College of Art and Design. Less than a month later, on October 4, 2023, CCAD Faculty Alliance filed a second petition seeking to represent a unit limited to 114 adjunct faculty.

According to an unofficial report, on November 17, 2023, the NLRB tallied the ballots in separate elections for the full-time and adjunct faculty at the Columbus College of Art and Design. According to the unofficial report, the total number of full-time and adjunct faculty in both units is 116. The full-time faculty voted 24-10 in favor of CCAD Faculty Alliance representation and the adjunct faculty voted 69-10 for representation.

This report is subject to modification after the NLRB releases the official tallies and the composition of the at-issue bargaining units or unit at Columbus College of Art and Design.

/Cornell University: Graduate Assistants Vote for UE Representation

Cornell University, NLRB Case No.: 03-RC-326874

On November 20, 2023, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE) was certified to represent a unit of 3174 graduate assistants at Cornell University. The certification followed a tallying of ballots in a representation election that demonstrated the graduate assistants had voted 1873-80 in favor of UE representation.

The following is the new graduate assistant bargaining unit at Cornell University:

Included: Graduate students enrolled in Cornell University PhD and Master’s degree programs at the Ithaca, Cornell Tech (Roosevelt Island) and Geneva campuses who receive a stipend from Cornell University to provide teaching or research services, in titles including teaching assistants, research assistants, graduate assistants, and graduate research assistants.

Excluded: All undergraduate students; graduate teaching research specialists (GTRS); fellows; graduate students seeking Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degrees; graduate students seeking Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees; graduate students seeking Juris Doctor (JD) degrees; all students at all other campuses (including but not limited to Doha, Washington, D.C., and Rome); graduate students not seeking Cornell degrees (including visiting students); office clerical employees; guards; managers, professional employees and supervisors as defined in the Act; and all other employees.

Emory University: Graduate Assistants Vote for SEIU Representation

Emory University, NLRB Case No.10-RC-324546

On November 28, 2023, the NLRB tallied the ballots in an election concerning on a petition filed by Southern Region Workers United, SEIU, seeking to represent a unit of 1,647 graduate assistants employed by Emory University. According to the tally, the graduate assistants at Emory University voted 909-73 in favor of SEIU representation.

The following is the unit description in SEIU's original representation petition:

Included: All PhD students enrolled at Emory University in the Laney Graduate School at its Atlanta, Georgia campus who provide instructional services or research services, including, but not limited to, teaching assistants, research assistants, teaching associates, instructors of record, and graders.

Excluded: All students not working towards PhD degrees offered through the Laney Graduate School and all other employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Tufts Univ.: SEIU Certified to Represent Engineering Graduate Assistants

Trustees of Tufts College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-326119

On November 9, 2023, SEIU Local 509 was certified by the NLRB to represent a unit of 265 graduate assistants working at Tufts University's School of Engineering, following a representation election in which the graduate assistants voted 167-15 in favor of SEIU Local 509 representation.

The following is the new graduate assistant bargaining unit at Tufts University:

Included: All PhD students enrolled and working in the Tufts School of Engineering who provide instructional or research services, including but not limited to Teaching Assistants or Research Assistants, as a condition of receiving a stipend and/or tuition remission (regardless of funding sources).

Excluded: All undergraduate students, all post-baccalaureate students who work or provide services out of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences or School of Engineering, all other faculty, students who are compensated on an hourly basis or who have no current work or service obligations, confidential employees, managers, guard and supervisors as defined in the Act, and all other employees.

Weill Cornell Medical College: Postdocs Vote for UAW Representation

Weill Cornell Medical College, NLRB Case No: 02-RC-327093

On November 15, 2023, the NLRB tallied the ballots in a representation case filed by Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs United-UAW seeking to represent a unit of 488 postdoctoral trainees in research employed by Weill Cornell Medical College at its facilities located in New York City. The tally demonstrated that the postdoctoral trainees voted 328-12 in favor of UAW representation.

The following is the at-issue postdoctoral unit at Weill Cornell Medical College:

Included: All postdoctoral trainees employed by Weill Cornell Medical College performing research at any of the Employer's facilities located in New York City, including but not limited to Postdoctoral Associates, Fellows, and Visiting Fellows, regardless of funding source employed by the Employer.

Excluded: All other employees including, Postdoctoral trainees performing research at the Employer's facilities outside of New York City; postdoctoral trainees employed by other institutions (including, but not limited to, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Hospital for Special Surgery etc.); all postdoctoral trainees who are employed to perform clinical work; all Fellows and Visiting Fellows who are not performing postdoctoral research; guards, managers, and supervisors as

defined in the Act.

Harvard Univ.: Undergraduate Workers Vote for UAW Representation

President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard University),

NLRB Case No. 01-RC-317281

On November 2, 2023, Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union- UAW Local 5118 was certified by the NLRB to represent a unit of 320 undergraduate employees at Harvard University following an October 25, 2023 tally of ballots finding that the undergraduate employees voted 154-1 in favor of UAW representation.

The following is the new undergraduate student bargaining unit at Harvard University:

Included: All full-time and regular part-time undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in degree programs at Harvard University and who are employed by Harvard University as non-academic service employees in (1) the Harvard Library System; (2) Dining Services cafes, working in the following locations: Barker, Café Gato Rojo, GSAS Commons, HDS Commons, HKS, HLS Harkness Dining Room, Pub Grill, Harkbox & Catering, HLS Pub, LISE, Lamont, Northwest and SEC; (3) Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub; and (4) in the Office of BGLTQ+ Life; the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations; and the Harvard College Women’s Center.

Excluded: Any student employees working at the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, Biblioteca Berenson, and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, all casual employees, all guards, supervisors and professional employees as defined in the Act.

New York University: Graduate Researchers Seek UAW Representation

New York University, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-329924

On November 14, 2023, NYU Researchers United-UAW filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 4500 graduate research assistants, post-doctoral scholars, and other researchers at New York University.

The following is a description of the unit sought by NYU Researchers United-UAW:

Included: All individuals employed by New York University, at any of the Employer's facilities who are engaged in conducting research or assisting in the conduct of research, including graduate student employees, regardless of funding source, and more specifically including but not limited to Graduate Junior Researchers, Graduate Research Assistants, Law Research Assistants, MD/PHD Trainees, Student Fellows, Courant Instructors, Postdocs, Postdoctoral Associates, Postdoctoral Fellows, Assistant Research Scholars, Assistant Research Scientists, Assistant Research Technicians, Assistant Researchers, Associate Research Coordinators, Associate Research Scholars, Associate Research Scientists, Associate Research Specialists, Associate Research Technicians, Bioinformatics Analysts, Bioinformatics Programmers, Data Analysts, Grants Specialists, Human Rights Scholars, Junior Laboratory Associates, Junior Research Assistants, Junior Research Associates, Junior Research Scholars, Junior Research Scientists, Laboratory Assistants, Laboratory Associates, Laboratory Managers, Laboratory Technicians, Principal Research Technicians, Program Associates, Program Coordinators, Program Managers, Project Coordinators, Research Analysts, Research Assistants, Research Associates, Research Coordinators, Research Data Analysts, Research Data Associates, Research Engineers, Research Fellows, Research Project Managers, Research Scholars, Research Scientists, Research Specialists, Research Staff, Research Technicians, Researchers, Science Communications Specialists, Senior Bioinformatics Programmers, Senior Bioinformatics Scientists, Senior Biostatisticians, Senior Data Analysts, Senior Laboratory Assistants, Senior Laboratory Associates, Senior Laboratory Technicians, Senior Project Coordinators, Senior Research Associates, Senior Research Coordinators, Senior Research Fellows, Senior Research Program Managers, Senior Research Scholars, Senior Research Scientists, Senior Research Technicians, Senior Researchers, Special Projects Associates, Staff Scientists, Technicians, and Waste Law Fellows.

Excluded: All tenure-track faculty; instructional contract faculty; adjunct and part-time faculty to the extent that they are in the bargaining unit represented by the International Union, UAW, and its Local 7902; graduate students to the extent that they are in the bargaining unit represented by the International Union, UAW, and its Local 2110; undergraduate students employed in connection with their studies; clerical employees in Code 106 and laboratory/technical employees in Code 104 to the extent that they are represented by the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Technical Staff at NYU, Local 3882; and guards and supervisors as defined in the Act.

Smith College: OPEIU Seeks to Represent Student Dining Employees

Smith College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-330314

On November 17, 2023, Office & Professional Employees International, Local 153 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 403 student dining, cafe, and catering employees at Smith College.

Smith College: UFCW Seeks to Represent Residential Life Student Unit

The Trustees of the Smith College, NLRB Case No 01-RC-330196

On November 16, 2023, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1459 filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 79 student employees in the Office of Residential Life at Smith College.

Emerson College: OPEIU Seeks to Represent Resident Assistant Unit

Emerson College, NLRB Case No. 01-RC-329813

On November 13, 2023, Office & Professional Employees International Union, Local 153

filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a unit of 87 resident assistants at Emerson College.

Swarthmore College: OPEIU Seeks to Represent Resident Assistant Unit

Swarthmore College, NLRB Case No. 04-RC-329416

On November 6, 2023, Office and Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO filed at petition with the NLRB seeking to represent a bargaining unit of 56 resident assistants at Swarthmore College.

September 2013 Regional Higher Education Collective Bargaining Workshop at the University of Illinois-Chicago

On September 14 and 15, 2013, the National Center held a regional higher education collective bargaining workshop at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The regional conference was co-sponsored by the University of Illinois System, and the University of Illinois School of Labor & Employment Relations’ Labor Education Program.

The sold-out workshop included over 100 attendees and speakers from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and California.

This was the third regional workshop organized by the National Center since 2013, with the last two being held in California. It is part our effort to revive the tradition of holding regional programming similar to the events the National Center sponsored in earlier decades.

Best Practices in Collective Bargaining Panel with (l-r) Diana Valera, President CFAC/IFT, Columbia College, Mark Bennettt, Laner Muchin, Marcia Mackey, Michigan Education Association (moderator), Melissa Sortman, Assistant Provost and Director, Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs, Michigan State University, and Elizabeth Towell, SEIU Local 73

Best Practices in Collective Bargaining Panel with (l-r) Stephen Yokich, Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich, LLP, Robb Craddock, Labor and Employee Relations Executive Director, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Mike Newman, Deputy Director, AFSCME Council 31, Richard W. Fanning, Jr., Clark Hill, PLC, and Terry Curry, former Associate Provost and Associate Vice President, Michigan State University (moderator)

Collective Bargaining, Discrimination, Affirmative Action, & Title IX Panel with (l-r) Ricky Baldwin, Assistant Director, State Division, SEIU Local 73, Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law, Cornell ILR and AAUP General Counsel, Augustus Wood, Assistant Professor, School of Labor & Employment Relations, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Julie Miceli, Husch Blackwell, and Karen Stubaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University and National Center Affiliated Researcher (moderator)

Legal Obligations under Public Sector Statutes and NLRA Panel with (l-r) Richard W. Fanning, Jr., Clark Hill, PLC, Ellen Strizak, General Counsel, Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, Angie Cowan Hamada, National Labor Relations Board Region 13 Director, and Alice Johnson, General Counsel Cook College Teachers Union (moderator)

Community Colleges: Distinct Bargaining Issues and Challenges Panel with (l-r) Robert Boonin, Dykema, PLLC, Tony Johnston, Cook County Teachers Union Local 1600 President,

Andre' L. Poplar, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Oakland Community College,

Shannon Altson, Director of Business, Legal & Human Resources, Michigan Education Association, and Joshua Welker, Dean of Business and Institutional Effectiveness, John Wood Community College (moderator)

10 Best Practice Tips from Experienced Labor Arbitrators with (l-r)

Meeta Bass, Arbitrator

Cary Morgen, Arbitrator, and Betty Widgeon, Arbitrator, (moderator and panelist)

50th Anniversary Conference Video Recordings

The National Center's 50th anniversary conference on March 26-28, 2023 was a major success.

Click here for the full conference program. And click here for the webpage dedicated to the 50th Anniversary conference, which was developed with the assistance of Iris Finkel, Hunter College Web and Digital Initiatives Librarian.

Below are links to video recordings of certain presentations at the National Center's 50th Anniversary Conference.

We thank Roosevelt House Production Coordinator Daniel T. Culkin and Peter Jackson, Hunter College's Chief Digital Media CLT & Production Coordinator and the students of the Hunter College Film & Media Department for recording and producing the videos.

Welcoming Remarks by National Center Executive Director William A. Herbert, Anne Ollen, Managing Director, TIAA Institute, Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona and Co-Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, and Karen Stubaus, Rutgers University and Associate Editor, Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy.

Keynote Presentation by Michael Sandel, Political Philosopher and Harvard University Professor with Introductory remarks by Hunter College President, Jennifer J. Raab.

Panel: Title IX: Its Past, Its Present, and Its Future with Frazier Benya, Senior Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Lance Houston, Title IX Coordinator and Director of Equity and Compliance, Adelphi University, Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and General Counsel of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Tamiko Strickman, Special Advisor to the President and Executive Director of the Office of Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX, University of Michigan, and Moderators: Karen R. Stubaus, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rutgers University and Alexandra Matish, J.D., Associate Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan. This panel was co-organized by the National Academies' Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education.

Panel: Treasuring the Past and the Spirit of Change: Perspectives from Experienced Arbitrators with Rosemary A. Townley, Arbitrator and Mediator, Howard C. Edelman, Arbitrator and Mediator, Jacquelin F. Drucker, Arbitrator and Mediator, and Homer LaRue, Arbitrator, Mediator, and Professor, Howard University Law School, Moderator. This panel was co-sponsored by the National Academy of Arbitrators.

Panel: Higher Education Unionization: Perspectives from Labor Relations Agencies with John Wirenius, Chairperson, New York State Public Employment Relations Board, Marjorie Wittner, Chairperson, Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board, Mary Beth Hennessy-Shotter, Director of Conciliation and Arbitration, NJ Public Employment Relations Commission, and Michael P. Sellars, Executive Director, Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission, Moderator. This panel was co-sponsored by the Association of Labor Relations Agencies.

Panel: Annual Legal Update with Amy L. Rosenberger, Willig, Williams & Davidson, Monica C. Barrett, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, Henry Morris, Jr., Partner, ArentFox Schiff LLP, Aaron Nisenson, Senior Legal Counsel, AAUP, and Brian Selchick

Cullen and Dykman LLP, Moderator.

Panel: Yesterday and Today: Experienced Faculty Leaders in Higher Education with Jamie Dangler, former Vice President for Academics, United University Professions, Art Hochner, Associate Professor Emeritus, Management, Temple University & former President, Temple Assn. of University Professionals, AFT 4531, Charles Toombs, President, California Faculty Association, Kenneth Mash, President, APSCUF, and Penny Lewis, Secretary, Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, AFT Local #2334, Moderator.

Panel: Exploring the Retirement Income Equity Gap with Brent Davis, Economist, TIAA Institute, John Dorsa, Chief Pension Officer, Office of the New York City Comptroller, Valerie Martin Conley, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Idaho State University, and Anne Ollen, Managing Director, TIAA Institute, Panelist and Moderator.

Panel: College Athletes, NCAA and the NLRA: An Update with Gabriel Feldman, Sher Garner Professor of Sports Law, Tulane Law School, Joshua Nadreau, Fisher Phillips LLP, Mark Gaston Pearce, Executive Director, Workers’ Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law School, and former National Labor Relations Board Chairman, and Jeffrey Hirsch, Geneva Yeargan Rand Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law, Panelist and Moderator.

Panel: Labor Issues Facing Independent Musicians with Marc Ribot, Guitarist and Composer, Phillip Golub, Pianist and Composer, Amir Elsaffar, Trumpeter and Composer, Sulynn Hago, Guitarist and Composer, and Larry Blumenfeld, Moderator. This panel was co-sponsored by the Music Workers Alliance.

The National Center's Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy has published Volume 14. The volume title is "Learning from the Past to Enhance our Future."

The Journal's Editors-in-Chief are Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona, Karen Stubaus, Rutgers University, and Jeffrey Cross, Eastern Illinois University (Emeritus).

Op-Ed:

A New Foundation, Revisited by Richard J. Boris

Articles:

Protecting Academic Freedom Through Collective Bargaining: An AAUP Perspective by Michael Mauer

In the Beginning, Long Time Ago: A Brief History of the National Center’s Origin and Evolution by William A. Herbert

Power Despite Precarity: A Conversation with the Authors, Joe Berry and Helena Worthen by Gary Rhoades

Centering Anti-Racism and Social Justice, Toward A More Perfect Union: A Conversation with the Authors, Cecil E. Canton and Charles Toombs

by Gary Rhoades

Practitioner Perspective:

Factors that Led to Crossing the Picket-Line: An Autoethnography of a Faculty Striker by Giovanna Follo

Proceedings Materials:

50th Anniversary: Proceedings of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions by Daniel J. Julius

The Academic Mission and Collective Bargaining by Sidney Hook

Management Rights Issues in Collective Bargaining in Higher Education by

Margaret K. Chandler and Connie Chiang

The Yeshiva Case: One Year Later by Joel M. Douglas

State Support of Higher Education: A 20-Year Contextual Analysis Using Two-Year Percentage Gains In State Tax Appropriations by Edward R. Hines

Sexual Harassment on Campus and a Union's Dilemma by Rachel Hendrickson

Collective Bargaining and Technology by Christine Maitland

Faculty and Management Rights In Higher Education Collective Bargaining: A Faculty Perspective by Ernst Benjamin

The Current Status of Graduate Student Unions: An Employer's Perspective

by Daniel J. Julius

New Models of Contingent Faculty Inclusion by Frank Cosco

The Professionalization of Non-Tenure Track Faculty in the United States: Three Case Studies From Public Research Institutions: Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, and University of Oregon by Karen Stubaus

This Much I Know is True: The Five Intangible Influences on Collective Bargaining by Nicholas DiGiovanni Jr.

The History Of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: The Case of HBCUs

by Derryn Moten

Collective Bargaining and Labor Representation for Higher Education in a “Right to Work” Environment by Thomas Auxter

The Journal is an open access, peer-reviewed, online periodical, the purpose of which is to advance research and scholarly thought related to academic collective bargaining and to make relevant and pragmatic peer-reviewed research readily accessible to practitioners and to scholars in the field.

We encourage scholars and practitioners in the fields of collective bargaining, labor relations, and labor history to submit articles for potential publication in future volumes.

The Journal is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University.

New Book: Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education:

A Labor History, edited by Eric Fure-Slocum and Claire Goldstene

New Book: The Right to Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom, Edited by Valerie C. Johnson, Jennifer Ruth, and Ellen Schrecker

Job Posting:

Open Education Research and Policy Specialist with the

 Massachusetts Teachers Association

The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) Center for Education Policy and Practice is hiring an Education Research and Policy (ERP) Specialist who will work with educators, students, community groups and other experts to identify obstacles to success for students and educators that are rooted in structural racism, economic inequality, and other forms of oppression and develops solutions that dismantle those barriers. The ERP specialist also works with our government relations, field, grassroots, and communications teams on campaigns to achieve those policy goals.

The full job description and information on applying can be found here: Recruitment (adp.com)

In addition to working for a union, you will belong to a staff union with all the advantages and feeling of solidarity that unions provide. The salary scale for this position is $103,000 to $137,000, depending on experience. Wherever you start, each year you move up one step each year that you are in the position until you reach the top step.

Job Postings:

Open Staff Positions with the California Faculty Association

Working for CFA

A union of 29,000 tenure-track faculty, coaches, librarians, and counselors, CFA is seeking candidates with a strong knowledge and background in racial and social justice work. Candidates who have relevant experience (formally or informally) and can translate that into the range of job responsibilities listed below are strongly encouraged to apply.

CFA is proud to be a member-run union and believes in employing hard-working and creative staff whose talents complement those of our elected leadership. 

CFA is an Affirmative Action Employer. Women, People of Color/Native People, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

CFA complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact searchcommittee@calfac.org.

Click here to view job listings.

Job Postings

Campus Service Representatives – NorCal & SoCal

The CSR responsibilities are communicated by the CFA campus Field Representative and will work in coordination with the CFA Chapter Executive Board’s, which organizes and represents approximately 29,000 faculty, librarians, counselors, and coaches.

General Summary

The CSR is a non-exempt part-time position.

The position ensures that the California Faculty Association’s (CFA) new member recruitment and organizing goals are executed through the work of the CSR and chapter that they are assigned to support. Overall, the position will support and help add capacity to well-functioning ongoing priorities for new member recruitment and organizing support.

Rate of Pay: $25.00 hour

Hours Per Week: 19 hours per week.

Working Days/Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am – 2pm, Fridays 2pm-5pm

**Any alterations to the scheduled days/hours must receive prior approval by the Field Rep

Job Functions and Essential Duties

Recruitment of new members:

• Daily hall walking campus buildings to engage in recruitment discussions with non-members – nonmember target lists and tracking form provided during bi-weekly check ins
• Provides welcoming experience and exceptional service to non-members

Required meeting attendance:

• Attends monthly membership organizing committee meetings
• Attends monthly luncheons, workshops, and other activities – coordinates with OM to identify rsvp’s of non-members to engage with during the event
• Attends 2^nd Executive Board meeting of each month to provide report progress made in chapter goal of recruitment
• Events/activities in which membership organizing committee has scheduled for the upcoming month
• What has been successful for recruitment and what has not

Optional meeting attendance:

• 1^st Executive Board meeting of the month
• Events, workshops and activities where no nonmembers have rsvp’d

Reporting:

• Friday bi-weekly – turn in tracking form from prior weeks and workplan for upcoming week to field rep and chapter president
• Friday 3pm bi-weekly check in with field rep (and occasionally chapter president) – meeting will be to discuss and review progress on recruitment goals using tracking form, workplans and hall walking scheduling for the upcoming weeks, overcoming any obstacles to recruitment
• Weekly check-in with regional organizing director and team meetings

Office Organization and Administrative/ Clerical Duties (when needed):

• Keeps track of all conversations with nonmembers with dates, times, issues/concerns and follow up, if any, that is needed
• Communication with Executive Board members who have volunteered to assist in activities as to time, date, location i.e. tabling event, appreciation event, etc.
• Communicates to Field Representative if supplies are needed i.e. membership cards, pens/pencils, paper, binders, etc.
• Updates and maintains the CFA bulletin boards in each campus building with membership recruitment materials

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and under general supervision, and to handle multiple projects simultaneously. Effective organization and time management skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively, creatively and strategically in a team environment, including CFA officers, members, interns and staff.
• Ability to learn and communicate CFA organizational structure and policies
• Attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to communicate professionally with nonmembers, members, staff, students and leadership.
• Ability to follow verbal and written instructions.
• Ability to work independently and under general supervision to meet required tasks/duties.
• Possess high integrity and demonstrated ability to handle highly confidential information
• Effective and appropriate communication with members, staff, administrators, and supervisors.
• Ability to lift 25 lbs. (subject to reasonable accommodation).

To apply send cover letter and resume to: searchcommittee@calfac.org.