Constitutional Law

Issue Brief: NLRB Ignored Precedent in Graduate Research Assistant Decision

ACS released a new issue brief that critiques the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision holding that graduate student teaching and research assistants are not employees and thus are not protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Written by Penn State Dickinson School of Law Professor Ellen Dannin, the brief is entitled “Understanding How Employees’ Rights to Organize Under the National Labor Relations Act Have Been Limited: The Case of Brown University.”

Professor Dannin argues that the NLRB’s 2004 decision in Brown University is an example of what she calls the “Bush Board’s disregard for the rule of law.” She explains how the NLRB ignored precedent and the central purposes of the NLRA in reaching its decision, foreshadowing later decisions. While criticizing actions of this Board, Professor Dannin cautions that the NLRA itself should not be abandoned as a vehicle for protecting the rights of freedom of association, self-organization, collective bargaining, and acts of mutual aid or protection.

Please note the views of the author are her own and should not be attributed to ACS.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on August 20, 2008 (boomark / email).