WASHINGTON, DC—Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed its 2000 decision and ruled that 450 graduate teaching and research assistants at Brown University in Providence, RI, cannot be represented by a union because they are students.  The precedent-setting decision denies graduate teaching assistants at private universities the right to form a union and negotiate the terms of their working conditions.

"It's a disgrace that the federal agency charged with protecting workers is now turning its back on them," says David Bonior, Chair of American Rights at Work, a new workers' rights advocacy organization.  Just last month, the Board decided to reconsider the long-used practice of forming a union through voluntary recognition. "This NLRB, controlled by Bush appointees, will go down in history for taking away the rights the agency is supposed to protect."