Are Graduate Students

Employees?
Anthony Gaynier
Graduate Assistant

support role
Assist faculty, staff, or coaches
Paid with a stipend, not hourly wages.
Allow growth for future jobs, while allowing for educational growth.
Graduate Assistant Hours

Most graduate assistant(GA) positions are required no more than 20 hours a

week, paid accordingly.
Some GAs work over 60 hours a week, with a normal stipend being about
$1000 a month before taxes.
http://footballscoop.com/news/lets-talk-about-ga-pay/
Employee Benefits

Full time benefits: sick/vacation days, health care, etc

Graduate assistants receive no benefits.
Stipend only job
This is much cheaper labor than a full time employee.
Many institutions, hire more than one graduate assistant to fill a full time
role.
What is the issue?

Graduate assistants only receive stipends.

Graduate assistants work more hours than agreed upon on the contract.
Because of this GAs want to become full time employees for wage and
benefit reasons.
Columbia Decision

The National Labor Relations Board issued a 3-1 decision in

Columbia Universitythat student assistants working at private colleges and
universities are statutory employees covered by the National Labor Relations
Act. The Graduate Workers of Columbia-GWC, UAW filed an election petition
seeking to represent both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants,
along with graduate and departmental research assistants at the university in
December 2014. The majority reversedBrown University(342 NLRB 483)
saying it deprived an entire category of workers of the protections of the Act
without a convincing justification.
What does this mean?

Students are now covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
NLRA protects the right of employees and employers, and encourage
collective bargaining.
Collective Bargaining-negotiation of wages and other conditions of
employment by an organized body of employees.
GAs can form unions that must be recognized by institutions.
These unions can fight for less hours expected, better wages, etc.
Feedback

Those in who are in faculty positions are very angry with this decision.
They believe that graduate assistants are students first.
Yet the hours they expect from the GAs do not show this.
Reality

GAs at private institutions are now backed by the NLRA.

Will institutions honor these unions?
Will GAs risk their positions to stand up for their wants?
Will the schools honor their new employees wants?