In emergency meeting, U-M regents vote to oppose bill to ban GSRA unionization

The University of Michigan Board of Regents convened an emergency meeting early Tuesday morning and voted to oppose a bill in the Michigan Legislature that would ban graduate student research assistants from unionizing.

Regent Laurence Deitch said Senate Bill 971, which is scheduled for an 11 a.m. hearing today before the Senate Operations Committee, is unwarranted and called it " an “improper incursion” by the Legislature into the internal workings of the university, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission is reviewing whether GSRAs can unionize. University administrators oppose unionization, but the Board of Regents voted to allow GSRAs to unionize in May. The matter is now before the commission, which recently tasked an administrative law judge with hearing testimony from GSRAs. University administrators are also expected to testify before the judge. After testimony concludes, the commission will vote on whether GSRAs can move to form a union.

Media were e-mailed about the meeting at 11:04 p.m. Monday. The Free Press reported the meeting was short and regents argued about whether calling it was appropriate.