The Employment Relations Board denied an appeal by the University last week, upholding an earlier ruling that the University acted inappropriately in withholding information from the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.
GTFF first filed unfair labor practice charges against the University in April 2000. GTFF filed the grievance with the board — a state agency that decides labor issues — after the University denied the union’s request for information about the number of graduate teaching fellow administrative positions and “training grants,” which are GTF scholarships.
University representatives said releasing personal information about GTFs violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a law that protects students from the release of their private information by a university. The University also added a waiver to GTF contracts with an option to check yes or no to release information to the union.
Although FERPA was enacted in 1974, this was the first time the University used the law as a basis for withholding information from the union, GTFF board member Ashley Overbeck said.
On Jan. 11, the board ruled that the University violated the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act because the decision to add the waiver was made without negotiation with the union. The board also said the University should have asked the Department of Education whether releasing information to GTFF was illegal before withholding any information.
The University filed a motion to appeal the decision March 1, citing supplemental information contained in a letter written by Leroy S. Rooker of the Department of Education, which was not received by the University until after the first hearing.
According to this letter, the University may not disclose certain information about students to a third party, including social security number or identification number, rate of pay and bargaining unit status, without consent of the student.
The board determined that the letter was not enough to justify the University violating PECBA regulations and upheld the earlier ruling that the actions taken by the University to comply with FERPA were not appropriate.
Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Richard Linton said the latest ruling by the Employment Relations Board will not change how information is currently being released.
Since the initial ruling, the University has worked with GTFF to establish a process for contacting students who request their information not be given to GTFF, he said. GTFs who check “no” on the waiver form in their contracts are contacted by the graduate school to let them know about health insurance and other benefits they can receive through GTFF, he said.
Only “a handful” of the approximately 1,200 GTFs at the University request that their information not be released to GTFF, he said.
Overbeck said it is important for GTFF to have information about GTFs on campus so that the union can help them get health insurance benefits and advise them in issues such as grievance procedures.
“We’re responsible for representing employees,” she said. “If we don’t know where they are, we can’t do anything for them.”
GTFF will begin contract negotiations with the University this week.