[01] Frank J. Cavico, Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA. [02] Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA.

All employees want to be treated fairly by their managers and employers. If workers observe that they are not getting a fair compensation and treatment for their knowledge and outcomes, then they will naturally think of unionizing. This is equally true of those who work in the government sector, private industries and educational institutions. For educational institutions, one question has been to determine if teaching and research assistants can be considered employees. The NLRB ruling in the Columbia University case demonstrates that teaching and research assistants at educational institutions are employees and should have the ability to unionize. As such, this article focuses on how private universities can deal with this new legal and practical reality. This article provides an overview of federal labor relations law as well as recommendations for university administrators on how to avoid unions; and how to deal with collective bargaining in the context of the Columbia University decision.

NLRB, National Labor Relations Board, Unions, Unionization, Collective Bargaining, Teaching / Research Assistants, Employees, Columbia University

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