Setback in Drive to Unionize Michigan Research Assistants

The Michigan Employment Relations Commission ruled 3-0 on Monday that there was no reason to reverse a 1981 ruling that research assistants are not employees and are thus not entitled to unionize, The Detroit Free Press reported. The ruling was a setback to a drive to unionize those workers. The University of Michigan Board of Regents voted to permit collective bargaining, but groups skeptical of the union asked the commission to block the process. While critics of the union see the commission vote as a major victory, the union says it could still hold an election. The University of Michigan said that it was studying the decision.