Kenyon College filed a motion today with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting NLRB’s Region 8 to dismiss or stay an Oct. 18 petition requesting an election to determine whether all undergraduate student workers at Kenyon should be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America for purposes of collective bargaining.
Kenyon is seeking dismissal because the students’ petition raises significant legal issues that must be resolved before the NLRB can act on the students’ request for an election, including whether the NLRB has jurisdiction over undergraduate students.
In its motion, Kenyon points out that the NLRB has not decided previously whether an election in a campus-wide unit of exclusively undergraduate students is appropriate under federal labor law. In addition, the NLRB’s election rules would require Kenyon to disclose private information contained in education records of the hundreds of students whom the union seeks to represent. Providing this information to the NLRB under the election rules’ compressed timelines risks violating the privacy rights of students under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
In December 2020, Kenyon completed a three-month review of the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee’s request for the College to voluntarily recognize a union of student workers. While Kenyon respects the roles that unions play in traditional workplaces, Kenyon’s undergraduate students attend the College for an education; student jobs all have an educational component and exist to fulfill work study requirements and provide financial support for their education. Kenyon believes that it can best fulfill its educational mission, preserve its collaborative environment, and meet students' financial needs by working directly with students and their families.