The ruling permits graduate student assistants at private universities to exercise the same rights as those already exercised at public universities where state labor laws apply. NYU challenged this decision, arguing that graduate assistants are students whose work is part of their educational experience. In its ruling, the Labor Board agreed with the students that, in exchange for very low wages, they work long hours tutoring, grading, researching, and performing work similar to higher paid professional teachers. The facts establish that graduate assistants perform services under the control and direction of the employer, and they are compensated for these services by the employer.
Graduate assistants work as teachers or researchers.
They perform their duties for, and under the control of, the employer s departments or programs. Graduate assistants are paid for their work and are carried on the employer s payroll system. The graduate assistants relationship with the employer is thus indistinguishable from a traditional master-servant relationship. This decision reverses long-standing Labor Board policy concerning graduate teaching assistants at private institutions. School administrators fear the door is now open for the involvement of unions in decisions concerning graduate institutions educational policies and practices.