As communicated to Service Employees International Union Local 200United (SEIU), the University of Rochester has decided to end its engagement in the process of potentially reaching a private election agreement.聽If mutually agreed upon, private election agreements are one path that can be taken in the process to determine whether a majority of PhD students in the proposed bargaining unit are interested in being represented by a union.
When the University and SEIU began negotiations for a private election agreement about one year ago, the University believed it made sense, notwithstanding the significant departure from the University鈥檚 practice of insisting on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised elections as the mechanism employees should use in the event they seek to be represented by a union.聽 Now, a year later and in consideration of several important external changes, the University has decided not to enter into a private election agreement for reasons including:聽 the recent Vanderbilt University v. National Labor Relations Board decision and the opposition students there had to the disclosure of their personal information; and the sudden, sweeping and still unclear shifts in the federal government鈥檚 support for the University鈥檚 missions of research and education and, potentially, patient care. The federal government has already significantly altered its approach to supporting science, and the University is operating in new, uncharted territory.
The NLRB does offer graduate students the same process used by other groups to pursue union recognition, without a private election agreement.