Student Workers Stymied in Attempt to Unionize (AUDIO)

The state Employment Relations Board already has certified the union as the students' bargaining agent.

Courtesy: stonewalldemocrats.org

(PORTLAND, Ore. ONS) - 14 college students at Portland State University (PSU) may not have realized what a can of worms they'd open when they asked a labor union if they could join.

They are hourly workers in the recycling program who voted unanimously to be part of the service employees' union, SEIU. Now the Oregon University System says it won't include the recyclers in current negotiations.

Marc Nisenfeld, union president on the PSU campus, says, while it is unusual for students to want to unionize, they have their reasons.

"They're treated differently; they're paid lower than regular classified workers. They don't have a grievance process; they don't have, really, anything. They came to us wanting to organize, mostly to have a say in the direction of their work."

SEIU already represents about 4,000 other workers on Oregon college campuses, and has been in contract negotiations for them since February. At Portland State, Nisenfeld says he doesn't think it's an attempt at union-busting.

"I think that it's more the Oregon university system not wanting to grant rights to students. I think it scares them that this might lead to a wide organizing drive of student workers."

The state Employment Relations Board already has certified the union as the students' bargaining agent, so the union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint. The school says it wants to bargain separately with the recycling workers, not as part of the larger union membership.

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Special thanks to Oregon News Service
Produced and Reported by Chris Thomas

Click the play button below for the audio report: