Spike in Grad Student Union Petitions Likely With NLRB Changes

If history is any indicator, the pendulum soon will swing back in favor of graduate student employee unions finding favor at the National Labor Relations Board.

Two decades of union petitions filed with the board show that when it’s under Democratic control, student worker organizing at private colleges spikes. That organizing activity is expected to tick up again as the Republican majority on the NLRB is likely to switch to Democratic control at the end of August.

The last time a Democratic board had the opportunity to rule on graduate student employee organizing petitions, nearly 20,000 students joined labor unions, ...