The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent federal agency created to enforce the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB is authorized to protect the rights of employees to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representatives. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it has regional offices across the country, including one in Boston, Massachusetts.

In recent years, the NLRB has ruled that students who work at private colleges and universities are employees with the right to decide whether or not to unionize.

A union is an organization that serves as an agent representing a specific group of employees for purposes of engaging in collective bargaining with the employer on their behalf. In the United States, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) generally oversees the process for employees seeking to form or join a union.

If the members of a bargaining unit — a specific group of employees who collectively choose to unionize — demonstrate enough support, organizers will file an election petition. This in turn prompts an election in which all bargaining unit members would be eligible to vote on whether or not to be represented by the union. Ultimately, the election to certify a union as the bargaining representative for a bargaining unit is decided by a majority of votes cast by all the eligible members of the bargaining unit.

Collective bargaining is the formal process of negotiation between an employer and a group of employees that establishes the terms and conditions of their employment. The terms negotiated include pay, benefits, work hours, time off and more. The process results in a collective bargaining agreement, which legally binds both the employer and the employees to the terms agreed upon.

Often, employee groups that engage in collective bargaining choose to be represented by a union, an organization that serves as an agent representing a specific group of employees and collectively bargains with the employer on their behalf. In the United States, a federal agency called the National Labor Relations Board oversees the process for employees seeking to form or join a union.

Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) play an important role in Brown’s shared learning community. Brown has a long history of students working alongside faculty and staff as peer educators – for example as teaching assistants, tutors and writing fellows – in roles that both support their classmates and deepen their own knowledge. A majority of Brown undergraduates serve as peer educators before leaving the University. As students, UTAs bring a unique perspective on learning course content and can provide a different level of support for their peers. Faculty work with UTAs as partners and collaborators in a teaching team that leverages UTA experiences as students to design, facilitate, and evaluate course content. More information is available in the Guidelines for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants approved by the College Curriculum Council.

The Computer Science Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (CS UTA) program — which is the program that is the subject of the March 2 unionization election — is a distinguished program at Brown with a long and valued history. It employs more than 300 undergraduates each semester, and generous donations to the Brown CS UTA Endowment have provided critical support for students serving in these important roles. CS UTAs support their fellow students and faculty colleagues and gain academic and professional experience while doing so. Regardless of the outcome of the election, the University and the Department of Computer Science are fully committed to the CS UTA program and ensuring that it is a valuable academic experience for generations of students to come.

The College Curriculum Council (CCC) outlines best practices for equitable recruiting and hiring of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) in its Guidelines for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants. The guidance addresses areas that include learning objectives for UTAs, transparency in hiring, support and professional development, articulation of teaching responsibilities, workload and compensation, and student safety and privacy. The College in March 2022 provided faculty and departments with updates to guidance for compensation and academic credit for undergraduate TAs. The guidance conveys, in part, that Brown students may receive academic credit for experiential learning that includes internships and other practical experiences through structured coursework that complies with the CCC framework for academic internships. With regard to compensation, students may receive academic credit for experiential learning opportunities which include payment, because credit and compensation are separate issues.

The College Curriculum Council (CCC) outlines for faculty and departments best practices for equitable recruiting and hiring of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) in its Guidelines for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants, including general guidance on hours, support and teaching responsibilities. In addition, guidance regarding pay ranges is provided by University Human Resources for student employment positions in the Payroll section of the Student Employment Guide.

Separately, in March 2022, the CCC provided faculty and departments with updates to guidance for compensation and academic credit for undergraduate TAs. This document provides clear and standardized policies for questions of internship credit and/or compensation. Academic departments at Brown individually manage their UTAs within these guidelines.

We believe that a union election is a critical and inclusive step to take for any community of individuals interested in forming a union. The University will respect the choice made by students in an election, and we will not engage in, or tolerate, any conduct that interferes with or seeks to inappropriately influence student choices.

We will, as all employers are entitled to do under the National Labor Relations Act, convey and communicate accurate and factual information to eligible voters in the time period leading up to an election, and we strongly urge TALO and GLO (the Graduate Labor Organization, which proposes to represent TALO) to do the same. It is particularly important that students making this important choice have the full range of information available to them about what unionization entails, including the anticipated amount of student dues that will be deducted from their hourly pay, how those dues will be expended, and how decisions will be made about those dues and other union matters.

Should a bargaining unit’s members demonstrate enough support to form a union, organizers will file an election petition, which would in turn prompt an election in which all bargaining unit members would be eligible to vote on whether or not to be represented by the union. Ultimately, the election to certify a union as the bargaining representative for a bargaining unit is decided by a majority of votes cast by all the eligible members of the bargaining unit.

A secret-ballot election under the Rules and Regulations of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) shall be held under the supervision of the NLRB regional director on the date and at the hours and place specified here:

• DATE: Thursday, March 2, 2023
• HOURS: 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. AND 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• PLACE: 4TH Floor, Science Library Building.

All undergraduate students, who in the Fall 2022 and/or Spring 2023 semesters, held one or more of the following teaching assistant positions: All Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs), Head Teaching Assistants (HTAs), and Meta Teaching Assistants (MTAs) employed in the Department of Computer Science at Brown University (unless the person has graduated from or withdrawn from the program on the day of the election).

All eligible students who would be impacted by the formation of a union and a collective bargaining agreement should have an opportunity to directly exercise their vote in favor of or in opposition to unionization. Students must meet the eligibility requirements of the proposed bargaining unit, specifically all Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs), Head Teaching Assistants (HTAs), and Meta Teaching Assistants (MTAs) employed in the Department of Computer Science at Brown University.

No, absentee ballots are not permitted in the election. If an eligible voter is in need of an accommodation in order to participate in the election, they should contact their respective representative and request the necessary assistance.

No, the international status of a student does not affect their eligibility to vote in a union election or to participate as a member of a union. The student simply needs to meet the eligibility requirements of the proposed bargaining unit, specifically all Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs), Head Teaching Assistants (HTAs), and Meta Teaching Assistants (MTAs) employed in the Department of Computer Science at Brown University.

The University is committed to providing an environment in which the undergraduate TAs can decide for themselves whether or not unionization is in their best interest. If a student believes that their right to vote and/or participate in the election has been interfered with, the student can either contact their respective union representative/official, if appropriate, or the Regional Director for the National Labor Relations Board at (617) 565-6700.

Dues are a regular payment from members that fund their union. The amount of dues collected from employees represented by unions is subject to federal and state laws and court rulings. Elected officials of the union set union dues.

Federal law allows unions and employers to enter into "union-security" agreements, which require all employees in a bargaining unit to become union members and begin paying union dues and fees within 30 days of being hired. Employees may choose not to become union members and pay dues, or opt to pay only that share of dues used directly for representation, such as collective bargaining and contract administration. Known as objectors, they are no longer union members, but are still protected by the contract. Unions are obligated to tell all covered employees about this option, which was created by a Supreme Court ruling and is known as the Beck right.

Rhode Island is not a “right to work” state. Under a Right to Work state, each employee at a workplace would decide whether or not to join the union and pay dues, even though all workers are protected by the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union. In a “right to work state,” the union would still be required to represent all workers.

Elected officials of the union set union dues, and they typically hover around 1-2%. The most common structure sets dues as a percentage of gross earnings. Unions may establish a multi-tiered or sliding scale dues structure while others pay a flat monthly amount.

Unions are subject to significant oversight, including a requirement to submit annual financial reports to the Office of Labor Management Standards, a department of the Department of Labor (DoL). Unions with an annual budget of over $250,000 must submit a form annually called an LM2, and these are publicly searchable online. In addition to these requirements, unions also provide annual reports to their members.