NEW YORK -- A majority of teaching, research and graduate assistants at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) filed a petition for union representation today at the Brooklyn office of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).  Lab safety, workers say, is a key issue at NYU-Poly’s Brooklyn campus.

“NYU-Poly is a great teaching and research institution. We can make it even better when we have a voice on the job and a say in our working conditions,” said Manoj Ganesh, who works as a research assistant at NYU-Poly while completing his PhD in Chemical and Biological Sciences. 

The Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s second-oldest private engineering school, became part of NYU in 2008. Some 600 master’s degree and PhD students, from a range of scientific and technical disciplines, are employed by the school as teachers, researchers and graduate assistants.

“It’s time for NYU to get the message: In America, majority rules,” said John Freudenthal, a research assistant in the Chemistry Department at NYU’s Manhattan campus and a member of GSOC/UAW Local 2110.  “At NYU, a majority of us have said, over and over again:  ‘We want a union.’  Now, the scientists and engineers at NYU-Poly are saying the same thing.”

The petition filed today would create a distinct bargaining unit for NYU-Poly scientists and engineers.  In addition to concerns about wages, health insurance and job security, scientific and technical workers at NYU-Poly want a stronger say in establishing safe practices in laboratory settings, where they frequently work with hazardous chemicals.

“A lot of times, we’re alone in our labs, supervising experiments and technical procedures,” said Ganesh.  “But only faculty members can call for assistance to clean up chemicals spills or deal with other safety issues.  It doesn’t make sense; that’s why we need to sit down and talk.”

At NYU, which is now NYU-Poly’s parent institution, members of UAW Local 2110 negotiated the first-ever collective bargaining agreement for private sector grad student assistants in 2002.  Contract talks followed a unanimous 2000 NLRB decision which stated:

"Consistent with Supreme Court and Board precedent, we find that the graduate assistants are employees within the meaning of Section 2(3) [of the National Labor Relations Act]."

In 2004, a narrow majority of Republican appointees to the NLRB overturned precedent and overruled the 2000 decision.  NYU has refused to negotiate ever since -- but NYU TAs and RAs have repeatedly demonstrated majority support for their union, most recently verified in April 2010 by the American Arbitration Association.

In May 2010, NYU TAs and RAs filed a new petition for union recognition; the NLRB found “compelling reasons for reconsideration,” and re-opened the case.  As a result, the New York regional director of the NLRB held a full hearing on the bargaining rights of graduate assistants, which concluded in April.

“The facts are clear.  The law is clear,” said Julie Kushner, director of UAW Region 9A, which includes the New England states, Puerto Rico, and eastern New York, including New York City.  “Whether in Manhattan or Brooklyn, NYU shouldn't be allowed to hire people, give them work assignments, compensate them, and then claim they are not workers with full rights under the law.”

“Instead of wasting more time and money, NYU should negotiate now with members of GSOC/UAW Local 2110 -- and with scientists and engineers at NYU-Poly.”

The UAW, one of the nation’s most diverse labor unions, represents more than 45,000 workers in higher education, including teaching assistants, research assistants, academic administrators, full-time and adjunct faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and clerical, technical and professional employees.