Labor board moves to bar unionization by grad assistants

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board has proposed a new rule that would strip graduate teaching assistants at private universities of rights to collective bargaining.

The proposal announced Friday would reverse a 2016 ruling by the labor board that graduate students are employees — and not merely students — in a blow to a burgeoning unionization movement.

The board’s stance on the issue has shifted several times. Chairman John Ring says the board aims to obtain maximum public input and “bring stability to this important area of federal labor law.”

The American Federation of Teachers said that graduate teaching assistants who have been organizing with the union will submit comments in opposition.

At public universities, unions have represented teaching and research assistants for decades.