The National Labor Relations Board issued a sweeping decision last week that could open the door to adjunct or contingent faculty unionizing across a wide range of private colleges.
Pacific Lutheran University in Washington state lost its bid to stop its adjuncts from unionizing, the Seattle Times reported:
In its decision, the NLRB rejected two of PLU’s arguments: that the school was exempt from national labor rules because it is a religious institution, and because full-time adjuncts were managerial employees. …
In its decision, the NLRB wrote that it was not enough for the school to be a religious institution to be exempt from labor rules; the faculty could not be denied the right to collective bargaining unless they were carrying out a religious function. And, the NLRB ruled that faculty could not be denied the right to unionize if they were not involved in the management of the college.
The ruling means PLU adjuncts can count ballots from their vote last year – and it will probably have a domino effect at a nearby Jesuit institution:
Union officials said they believed the decision would clear the way for impounded union ballots to also be counted at Seattle University, where contingent faculty voted on joining Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925 in April. The two cases, according to SEIU 925, are nearly identical.
PLU can still appeal the board decision to federal court, but has said it won’t decide until the ballots are counted. The NLRB decision was 3-2.
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IMAGE: SEIU/Flickr
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