Polytechnic Institute of New York University

National Labor Relations Board - Unpublished Board Decisions

Jun 22, 2012

29-RC-012054 (N.L.R.B. Jun. 22, 2012)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Employer
and Case 02-RC-023481
GSOC/UAW
Petitioner
POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Employer
and Case 29-RC-012054
INTERNATIONAL UNION,
UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE,
AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
WORKERS OF AMERICA (UAW)
Petitioner
NOTICE AND INVITATION TO FILE BRIEFS
On June 22, 2012, the Board (Members Hayes dissenting) granted, in part, the
parties’ requests for review in the above-captioned cases. The Board has consolidated
these cases for purposes of briefing.
The Board invites the filing of briefs in order to afford the parties and interested
amici the opportunity to address the issues raised in these cases.
The parties and amici specifically are invited to address the following questions:
1. Should the Board modify or overrule Brown University, 342 NLRB
483 (2004), which held that graduate student assistants who perform services at a
university in connection with their studies are not statutory employees within the
meaning of Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, because they “have
a primarily educational, not economic, relationship with their university”? 342
NLRB at 487.
2. If the Board modifies or overrules Brown University, supra, should the
Board continue to find that graduate student assistants engaged in research funded
2
by external grants are not statutory employees, in part because they do not
perform a service for the university? See New York University, 332 NLRB 1205,
1209 fn. 10 (2000) (relying on Leland Stanford Junior University, 214 NLRB 621
(1974).
3. If the Board were to conclude that graduate student assistants may be
statutory employees, in what circumstances, if any, would a separate bargaining
unit of graduate student assistants be appropriate under the Act?
4. If the Board were to conclude that graduate student assistants may be
statutory employees, what standard should the Board apply to determine (a)
whether such assistants constitute temporary employees and (b) what the
appropriate bargaining unit placement of assistants determined to be temporary
employees should be?
Briefs not exceeding 50 pages in length shall be filed with the Board in
Washington, D.C. on or before July 23, 2012. The parties may file responsive briefs on
or before August 6, 2012, which shall not exceed 25 pages in length. No other
responsive briefs will be accepted. The parties and amici shall file briefs electronically at
https://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/efile. If assistance is needed in filing through
https://mynlrb.nlrb.gov/efile, please contact the undersigned.
Dated, Washington, D.C., June 22, 2012.
By direction of the Board:
______________________________
Lester A. Heltzer
Executive Secretary