Clark’s Undergraduate Student-Workers Union, represented by Teamsters Local 170, has accused the Clark University administration of union busting and siding with the Trump administration. Earlier this month, Clark undergraduate student-workers announced plans to unionize and collectively signed enough union cards to prompt an election and petition for union status.
However, lawyers from the university have stated that they will litigate any formal unionization attempt by bringing it before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and challenging the agency rule that has allowed student-workers unions. Since the NLRB is now under the purview of the Trump administration, they would likely overturn the rule, threatening the continued existence of student-workers unions across the United States.
At issue is the definition of what it means to be legally considered an “employee.” In 2016, the NLRB issued a ruling relating to a unionization effort at Columbia University and held that student-workers do qualify as employees and thus have protected collective bargaining rights.
However, in a legal document submitted by lawyers representing Clark University administration, Clark’s lawyers assert that the 2016 Columbia case was wrongly decided. They also argued that student-workers do not qualify as statutory employees because they are “primarily students,” and that even if they did qualify, they do not share a “sufficient community of interest with one another.” The union organizers disagree.
“The work we do is essential to this campus’s operation, benefiting everyone from clubs to faculty to the public. And what we have in common is that none of us are paid enough and none of us are respected as employees by admin” said Will Titus, a student worker who is an event technician for Student Leadership and Programing, and is a union organizer.
In response to Clark’s claim that students do not share a “sufficient community of interest”, Titus stated that “most people working jobs at Clark don’t have a particular dedication to one specialization, in fact many work multiple jobs. We all are united in wanting to work on-campus and make ends meet.”
Union Representatives have stated Clark’s lawyers indicated to them that, if the petition for an election were to go forward, they would bring the case before the NLRB. There, they would argue in favor of overturning the 2016 Columbia decision. Due to the anti-union stances the Trump administration has taken, the union says there is a high likelihood the NLRB would side with Clark University administration and overturn the precedent from 2016.
This would prevent undergraduate and graduate students across the country from unionizing via the petitioning process. All future unionization efforts by student-workers would be significantly hampered by this. Additionally, while existing student-worker unions would continue to exist in the short term, the organizers argue that unions would be unable to renew or renegotiate their contracts once they expire.
In an Instagram post responding to the legal document issued by the university’s lawyers, the union representative stated that “Clark has made it clear that they do not view us as workers or value our labor. They do not believe student-workers should have the right to unionize, and they intend to strip this right from workers across the country.”
Additionally, Titus expressed his sentiment that the university’s actions are in contradiction with the purported values of the institution.
“These actions are totally against the message that they are projecting to students, parents, alumni, and prospective students. They are asking students and parents to choose this school and alumni to donate based on the idea that they are changing the world for the better, meanwhile they are turning around and aligning themselves with the Trump administration. They’re willing to end unionization rights for students across the country just to avoid paying us a little bit more and providing bare-minimum workplace safety.”
On February 27, the union organizers withdrew their petition for an election and recognition. The union has not stated what, if anything, they will do next after being faced with this roadblock.
On February 28, Dean Kiem sent an email to students expressing that the administration “want you to feel valued, respected, and supported” and indicated a willingness to hear student concerns through other means.
Union organizers are not satisfied with this response.
This is a developing story.
