Three Vanderbilt graduate students are fighting against Vanderbilt’s union to keep their personal information private.
Image Credit: BugsMeanee / CC
The College Fix [By Elise Degetter-University of Dallas] –
Vanderbilt University does not need to turn over private information to a potential union, according to a recent federal court ruling.
The Middle Tennessee District court ruled the university could object to the Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United subpoena, asking it to turn over private information on graduate students.
The Nov. 22 ruling is the latest part of a legal battle over the National Labor Relations Board’s authority and how it conflicts with federal education privacy laws. The case is pending as of Nov. 30.
Three Vanderbilt University graduate students also opposed a subpoena issued on behalf of Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United that demanded personal information from its potential members. They are seeking to intervene in the case.
The three grad students have filed a legal motion to stop the subpoena with help from the National Right to Work Foundation. The proposed graduate student union is an affiliate of the United Auto Workers.
National Right to Work told The College Fix via email recently that the Nov. 22 ruling helps its clients as they seek to intervene in the legal battle between Vanderbilt, the NRLB, and the union.
The worker freedom group provided further comments to The Fix prior to the court’s ruling.
“The National Labor Relations Board…often, as part of unionization elections, requires employers to hand over to union officials employees’ private information,” Vice President Patrick Semmens told The Fix via an emailed statement.
According to Semmens, the NLRB recently “expanded the information to include personal email and cell phones with no way to assure the information isn’t misused or shared with other third parties.”
“This happens even if individual workers object and say they do not want their personal information given to union officials, who in many instances have used such information in nefarious and even illegal ways,” he said.
An email from the Vanderbilt Graduate School to its students states that the NLRB subpoena “directs the university to provide the full name, work location, job shift, and job classification of all graduate students as part of its response to a petition for union representation by Vanderbilt Graduate Workers United.”
The graduate students are challenging the subpoena based on its violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which prevents the unauthorized disclosure of private information.
The National Right to Work Foundation said the labor board’s claims are superseded by “additional privacy protections” Congress added to federal privacy law.
The union has not responded to two emails asking for a response to the students’ objections sent in the past several weeks.
The national United Auto Workers did not respond to an email and a phone call in the past weeks also seeking comment.
The National Right to Work Foundation has previously opposed union efforts at Dartmouth University and MIT, as previously reported by The Fix.
Semmens, with the worker freedom group, said federal courts will review the labor board’s “actions.”
“Foundation attorneys will consider all options based on the outcomes of these intervention motions,” he said.
His group also criticized the UAW, accusing it of aggressive recruiting tactics.
The United Auto Workers have “a penchant for ignoring or violating employee rights in pursuit of gaining greater power over workers, businesses, and other institutions.”
“The union is still under federal monitoring following a years-long embezzlement probe that uncovered millions of dollars in workers’ dues money misspent on luxury items, gambling, vacations, and more,” National Right to Work stated in its news release. “The probe resulted in the convictions of about a dozen top UAW bosses.”
*This article was reprinted here by express permission from The College Fix
One Response
Unions=TROUBLE!