Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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A lawsuit filed by the Iowa Board of Regents against UE Local 896-COGS (Campaign to Organize Graduate Students) was dismissed by Judge Douglas Russell in Johnson County District Court. The lawsuit, which attempted to vacate a portion of the 2007-09 contract between UE-COGS and the Regents, was dismissed Dec. 4 because the court said the Regents had failed to allow the administrative and arbitration processes to run their course.
“We are very pleased that Judge Russell agreed with our position and dismissed this frivolous lawsuit by the Board of Regents,” said UE Local 896-COGS President Gwen Gruber. “Judge Russell’s ruling affirms our contention that this lawsuit was nothing more than a union-busting effort by the Board of Regents. It’s time for the Regents to abide by their agreement with the union and quit wasting taxpayer’s money on these shenanigans.”
The Regents lawsuit alleged that the Family and Educational Records Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law protecting student educational records, prevented them from releasing employment information to UE-COGS as required by the 2007-09 contract. Concurrent with the filing of the lawsuit, the University of Iowa stopped abiding by the contract and providing the union with the information as required by the contract.Before the lawsuit was filed in July, COGS used this monthly information to help monitor and provide services for its collective bargaining unit, which includes all graduate employees, regardless of whether they are dues-paying members of the student union. More specifically, COGS double-checks to make sure employees are getting paid the right amount.
When the Regents filed their suit and its intent, COGS argued that FERPA is ambiguous on how it is to be applied and that it generally covers protecting education records, not employment records. “All the information we’re asking for is employment-related,” Gruber told the Iowa Independent in an interview. “Our point of view is that FERPA does not apply and the Regents are using a misapplication of this to keep us from effectively representing and defending our members.”
The ruling directs the Board of Regents and UE-COGS to utilize the grievance and arbitration procedure outlined in the 2007-09 contract as well as the dispute resolution procedures found under the purview of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). UE-COGS has continued to proceed through these dispute resolution procedures despite the Regents’ failed legal maneuvering.
Previously, UE-COGS had filed a Prohibited Practice Complaint against the Regents with PERB, and the union is also pursuing this matter through the grievance procedure outlined in the 2007-09 contract. The hearing to address the Prohibited Practice Complaint was to be heard by representatives of PERB on Monday, Dec.10.
UE Local 896-COGS is the union representing 2,600 teaching and research assistants at the University of Iowa.
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