Vorys on Labor : Labor Relations Lawyer & Attorney: Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease Law Firm: National Labor Relations

In an earlier post on this site, we told you about the executive order New Jersey Governor Christie issued on the second day of his administration. It made unions subject to the same rules re political donations as businesses in New Jersey.

On Friday, however, an appellate court in New Jersey ruled that the governor exceeded his authority in issuing the executive order. Click here for the Businessweek story. The court reasoned that the governor invaded the province of the state legislature.

The court's decision in New Jersey invalidates the Executive Order. Thus, for those in New Jersey, it is no longer of any substantive effect. We will continue to monitor developments in the event a further appeal is taken or Gov. Christie responds with a legislative effort to counter the Court's ruling.

In the meantime, many of the points made in the first post about this development remain applicable. The practicing labor professional should keep in mind the potential impact of executive action, whether at the state or the federal level, on union organizing and labor relations.

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Recently, graduate students at New York University who serve as teaching assistants filed a petition with the NLRB seeking a union representation election. Click here for the New York Times story. The Graduate Student Organizing Committee, part of the United Auto Workers Local 2110, submitted union authorization cards reportedly signed by more than half of the estimated 1600 graduate assistants at NYU.

The NLRB's response will be interesting to watch. In 2004, the NLRB ruled that graduate assistants were not employees and therefore did not have any rights under federal labor law. However, Wilma Leibman, who is now the Chairman of the NLRB, and former Member Walsh dissented from that conclusion. The dissenting opinion described the majority as "woefully out of touch with contemporary academic reality."

So, unless another case gets to the NLRB first on this question, the NYU graduate assistants' petition could well provide a test of whether the NLRB will reverse the 2004 ruling. Given the NLRB's procedures, however, don't look for such a ruling any time soon. It could be a couple of years before the case makes its way to such a decision point.

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