Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN) and Higher Education and Workforce Training Subcommittee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following joint statement today after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a decision in
Columbia University regarding unionization of graduate students:
For years, the board has discarded established labor policy to advance a culture of union favoritism at any cost, and this intrusion into our nation’s colleges and universities is the latest example. At a time when many Americans are already struggling to obtain a higher education, it’s disturbing that a group of unelected bureaucrats is creating new barriers to success. This partisan, short-sighted decision may have powerful union leaders cheering, but it will have far-reaching, negative consequences for schools and the students they serve.
Teaching and research programs for graduate students are important learning opportunities that help individuals gain knowledge and skills to succeed in the future. Not only will today’s decision limit these programs, but it will increase college costs and impose new obstacles on hardworking men and women trying to build their careers. We will continue working to push back on the NLRB’s activist agenda and to make it easier—not harder—for more Americans to pursue the dream of higher education.
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