A Hawaii Supreme Court ruling issued Wednesday has opened the way for a group of University of Hawaii graduate assistants to petition to be classified as public employees with collective bargaining rights.
Voices of students echoed throughout the quiet campus on today’s non instructional day. A protest took place outside of Hawaii Hale where graduate students advocated for their unionization. Olivia Meyer,
(AP) University of Hawaiʻi graduate assistants are suing for the right unionize and bargain for better pay and working conditions. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports three graduate students and Academic Labor United filed the lawsuit Saturday against the Board of Regents, the Hawaiʻi Labor Relations Board and the state. Graduate assistants perform research, teach classes, hold office hours and grade student work while earning their own advanced degrees. The Labor Board is declining to comment. The university says it can’t comment directly on pending litigation. But a spokesman says the school has worked to address issues raised by graduate assistants and will continue to do so.
May 6, 2021
HONOLULU (AP) University of Hawaii graduate assistants have sued for the right unionize and bargain for better pay and working conditions.
Three graduate students and Academic Labor United, which represents graduate assistants, filed the lawsuit Saturday against the Board of Regents, the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and the state of Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Graduate assistants perform research, teach classes, hold office hours and grade student work while earning their own advanced degrees.
The state constitution gives public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively. But the Hawaii Labor Relations Board determined in 1972 that graduate assistants are not public employees, and so they may not join faculty or staff unions.
Travis.Thurston / Wikimedia Commons
HONOLULU University of Hawaii graduate assistants have sued for the right to unionize and bargain for better pay and working conditions.
Three graduate students and Academic Labor United, which represents graduate assistants, filed the lawsuit Saturday against the Board of Regents, the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and the state of Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Graduate assistants perform research, teach classes, hold office hours and grade student work while earning their own advanced degrees.
The state constitution gives public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively. But the Hawaii Labor Relations Board determined in 1972 that graduate assistants are not public employees, and so they may not join faculty or staff unions.