Efforts to unionize students at private universities are gaining momentum. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to reconsider whether graduate students at private nonprofit colleges and universities should be treated as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The case, "New School", Case No. 02- RC-143009,…

In its stunning and far-reaching decision in the "Pacific Lutheran University" case (12/16/14), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) opened the door to union organizing among faculty at thousands of private-sector institutions, both secular and religious. The question before the NLRB was whether a local of the Service Employees…

This paper investigates a conflict that erupted during the years 2003-2005 between faculty and management at an Israeli research university, over the introduction of new intellectual property rights (IPR) regulations. The introduction of new IPR regulations triggered contention and resistance among faculty members and raised debates over questions…

This essay offers some reflections for the theory and practice of research supervision drawn from the field of employment relations. It argues that rethinking supervision in terms of the employment relationship can advance dialogue and debate about supervision. This is twofold. (1) Reframing supervision in terms of the employment relationship can…

This paper explores the potential of feature film to encourage more inclusive, participatory and open learning in the area of employment relations. Evaluations of student responses in a single postgraduate course over a five-year period revealed how feature film could encourage participatory learning processes in which students reexamined their…

This article discusses how to overcome the language and cultural issues of using existing online videos in classroom discussions with nonnative English-speaking groups of students, through student-produced videos given as an authentic educational assignment. Implementation of the assignment and the use of student-produced videos in classroom…

The recent decision by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that Northwestern University football players on scholarship are "employees" entitled to unionize under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) should serve as a wake-up call for higher education administrators. Part of a trend in which both the NLRB…

In recent years, issues pertaining to graduate student union organizing have been at the center of several political battles and court cases. This attention is, at least in part, due to the growth of graduate student unions at a time when organized labor's influence is receding in other, more traditionally unionized sectors of the labor force. As…

Graduate unemployment is especially problematic in a country where much emphasis is placed on furthering academic studies for economic and personal rewards. This article investigates the relationship between career choice and unemployment length among graduates from a South African university. Data were collected by means of a survey questionnaire…

Numerous studies exist on distributive and procedural justice among union represented or nonunion employees. However, there does not appear to be any research on the perceptions of justice from individuals who have worked in both capacities, under differing processes and procedures for each group, within the same heavily unionized organization.…

Undergraduate business students in North America are often unfamiliar with the labor organizing process and frequently fail to identify with the reasons why workers join unions. This article suggests a discussion exercise based on the 1979 film, "Norma Rae," by 20th Century Fox, as an effective tool for familiarizing students with fundamental…

For the last half century, faculty in higher education has embraced unionization in its profession in a significant way. Both administrators and faculty in unionized college environments have a stake in the interactions between the two entities and a vested interest in understanding the factors that can influence working relationships. Despite…

This article presents an interview with Wilma B. Liebman, the new chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In this interview, Liebman talks about labor law, academics, and reversing ossification.

This article argues that the model of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in use at the Workers' College in South Africa may be seen as a form of "radical pedagogy." Drawing on documentary sources, focus group interviews with staff, and observations, it describes an educational philosophy which aims to build the competencies of activists…

One of the author's enduring concerns about the concept of academic freedom is with semantics. It has seemed to him that one of the biggest difficulties with discussions of academic freedom (as with many conversations about "value-laden" terms such as "democracy," "equity," and "justice") is that people begin from different positions and with…