NLRB Requests Student Worker Information

Date

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has settled on a process that allows it to proceed in considering an election petition involving undergraduate student workers at Kenyon while preserving students’ privacy rights — a critical concern for the College. The petition, filed on behalf of the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee (K-SWOC), seeks an election to determine if all Kenyon student workers will be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) for the purpose of collective bargaining.

The petition is unprecedented and raises important legal questions that the NLRB has acknowledged will require a full hearing to consider. Kenyon has worked diligently and cooperatively with the NLRB and the UE to address the challenges that the federal education privacy statute, FERPA, presents in the context of NLRB proceedings.

To give the petition full consideration, the NLRB has issued a subpoena for information contained in the educational records of about 1,850 Kenyon student workers, some of whom have graduated. This includes the names of student workers and positions held when the petition was filed in October 2021 and when it was amended in January 2023, as well as documents detailing job qualifications, position requirements, training, evaluations of student workers’ performance, discipline issued to student workers, and communications between student workers and their work supervisors since August 2019. All of the information sought by the subpoena must be produced to both the NLRB and to the UE. 

Should the NLRB decide to order an election, the names, home addresses, personal email addresses, and personal telephone numbers of eligible voters will be released to the UE and may be used in their union campaign efforts.

As is their right under FERPA, students may object to the release of their personal information by filing a written objection with the NLRB by Apr. 7, 2023 (see details below). Objecting does not affect a student’s eligibility to vote in an election.

Questions may be directed to Nora McGinley, assistant to the regional director, Region 8, National Labor Relations Board via email at Nora.McGinley@nlrb.gov or telephone at 216-303-7370.

Frequently Asked Questions

The NLRB subpoena, which has been provided to affected students and alumni along with at Notice of FERPA rights, requires disclosure of the full names, work locations, shifts and job classifications of all student workers as of Oct. 18, 2021 (when the petition was first filed), as of Jan. 26, 2023 (when it was amended), and as of several other dates specified in the subpoena.

In addition, the NLRB has requested the following documents from August 2019 to the present:

1. Documents that contain, describe or relate to performance or other evaluations of student workers.

2. Documents that contain, describe or relate to any disciplinary action taken with respect to student workers (including Civil Rights/Title IX discipline, no contact orders and other discipline).

3. Documents that describe student work position requirements, prerequisites, performance criteria and any other materials related to student work performance.

4. Information regarding the student work positions each student worker held, the time period during which each student worked in a particular position, the hours worked, pay received, the student’s work-study status and the student’s graduation year.

5. Communications between or among student workers and any student work supervisor (including any personal or health information shared in these communications), and other materials demonstrating or relating to the supervision of student workers.

In addition, Kenyon student work supervisors may testify at any hearing before the NLRB regarding their experiences with student work, student worker job qualifications and prerequisites, student work position requirements, training provided to student workers, student worker job performance and evaluations, and/or discipline issued to student workers.

All materials will be disclosed to both the NLRB and the UE. Should the NLRB decide to order an election, the names, home addresses, personal email addresses, and personal telephone numbers of eligible voters also will be released and may be used in union campaign efforts. 

The NLRB may order that certain information be redacted in resolving student objections to the subpoena. Certain other personal information, such as social security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, and other sensitive personal information may also be redacted if feasible before those documents are provided to the NLRB and the UE. These details are still being worked out with the NLRB.

Generally speaking, NLRB hearings are public proceedings. Kenyon intends to take all steps available to protect personally identifiable student information from public disclosure. However, the NLRB has not yet entered an order that would protect this information from public disclosure. 

The NLRB has never before considered an election petition for all undergraduate student workers. It needs to understand the nature of students’ work — across over 300 different positions across campus — their work schedules, job tenure, remuneration, performance, discipline and supervision — in order to assess whether they share a common interest or are even appropriately covered by the National Labor Relations Act.

K-SWOC has petitioned for all Kenyon student workers to be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America for the purpose of collective bargaining. Thus, information about all Kenyon student workers is potentially relevant to the NLRB proceedings, and has been requested by the NLRB. 

In January 2023, K-SWOC amended its election petition to include all Kenyon student workers in the potential bargaining unit, rather than all hourly paid Kenyon student workers, as stipulated in its October 2021 petition. Because Summer Scholars receive a stipend from Kenyon to allow them to pursue research, their information is potentially relevant to the NLRB proceedings and has been requested by the NLRB.

You must submit your objections, and any supporting information, to the NLRB in writing by Apr. 7, 2023. You may email them to Nora McGinley, assistant to the regional director, at Nora.McGinley@nlrb.gov or you may mail them to her at Region 8, National Labor Relations Board, 1240 East Ninth Street, Suite 1695, Cleveland, Ohio, 44199.

No action is required if you have no objections to the release of your personal information.

This request for information is part of the NLRB’s proceedings, not the College’s, and has no effect on your status as a Kenyon student.

You do not need a lawyer to file an objection to the release of your personal information. You may wish to consult an attorney for further information about your rights under FERPA, and you have the right to do so.

No. The NLRB’s subpoena for information contained in educational records is addressed to Kenyon College, not to individual student workers. A copy of the subpoena has been provided to you for your information and to help you determine if you would like to object to the release of your personal information.

The NLRB has set an estimated hearing date of May 8, 2023, continuing day to day thereafter. Both Kenyon and the UE may ask the NLRB to subpoena witnesses to testify at the hearing. Kenyon will be in touch directly with any witnesses it wishes to testify at the hearing.

No, not unless you are called to testify as a witness. The NLRB’s subpoena for information contained in educational records is addressed to Kenyon College, not to individual student workers, and no action is required of you if you have no objections to the release of your personal information.

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America is an international labor union that represents workers in various industries, including some of Kenyon’s maintenance workers. K-SWOC is an organization created and run by Kenyon students that has selected the UE to represent Kenyon student workers in collective bargaining.

The notice of the initial petition for election, filed on Oct. 18, 2021, can be found here. The amended petition, filed on Jan. 26, 2023, can be found here.

Students should direct questions to Nora McGinley, assistant to the regional director, Region 8, National Labor Relations Board at Nora.McGinley@nlrb.gov or 216-303-7370.

You do not need to do anything additional at this time.

Students with questions about the NLRB subpoena or the process for making objections should be directed to Nora McGinley, assistant to the regional director, Region 8, National Labor Relations Board at Nora.McGinley@nlrb.gov or 216-303-7370.

If students have questions or concerns about whether the NLRB process will have any impact on their relationship with Kenyon, you should assure them that the process does not impact their status as a Kenyon student or as a student worker at Kenyon.