K-SWOC/UE NLRB Election Update
Dear Members of the Kenyon community,
The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed the Kenyon administration’s petition to dismiss and indefinitely stay an official hearing to determine the specifics of our union’s bargaining unit and a concrete date for a free and fair union election. The NLRB has scheduled a status conference to discuss the specifics of an election between student workers and the administration for May 5 of this year.
In her response to Kenyon’s petitions, NLRB Region 8 Director Iva Choe repeatedly states that the College’s arguments for indefinitely delaying an election hearing are unfounded and not in keeping with previous case law. It also dismisses the only novel legal argument Kenyon’s administration made, by affirming that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) does not present an obstacle to normal NLRB election proceedings, and that “the Employer’s compliance with that statute can be achieved while at the same time meeting its obligations under the NLRA.” In short, the NLRB definitively rejected the administration’s legal arguments to delay or dismiss a union election for student workers. At present, the only people benefiting from Kenyon’s continued legal delay tactics are the administration’s Jones Day lawyers, who are collectively costing the College thousands of dollars per hour.
We made this happen together. The indefinite strike, now in its second week, has demonstrated to the NLRB that K-SWOC is a movement of workers, and that as workers we have a right to form a union through a free and fair election without delay. There is precedent for this - it was not until after Columbia graduate student workers demonstrated their willingness to fight for their right to be considered employees that the NLRB delivered the landmark Columbia (2016) ruling which granted all student workers at private institutions the right to unionize. Every striking worker and the supporters who made this victory happen should take a moment to celebrate that all of our efforts have pushed Kenyon’s administration one step closer to recognizing our rights as employees.
Despite this victory, Kenyon’s administration remains intent on delaying our election for as long as possible. Waiting until May for a special conference to discuss an election hearing effectively prevents student workers in the senior class, many of whom have been fighting for workplace democracy for over two years, from voting in a free and fair union election.
We, therefore, urge Kenyon’s Board of Trustees and administration to immediately drop their delay tactics, fire Jones Day, and sit down with student workers immediately to negotiate:
A stipulated election agreement to decide terms for a free and fair union election without delay
An end to unfair labor practices, including those committed against Community Advisors and the Kenyon Farmers
An end to the ongoing strike over unfair labor practices
We remain ready to participate in such negotiations as soon as the administration realizes that only civil cooperation and dialogue can put an end to this strike and secure a bright future for every single worker, manager, and administrator on Kenyon’s campus.
In solidarity,
The Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee (K-SWOC/UE)