NLRB: Adjunct professors at Catholic university can form union

The National Labor Relations Board ruled April 17 that adjunct professors at Seattle University have a right to form a union and the Jesuit school is not exempt from the board's jurisdiction based on religious freedom protections under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The university received the decision Thursday.

The Seattle case is the fourth from a Catholic college or university to go to the NLRB. The other three Catholic schools -- Pittsburgh's Duquesne University in 2011, followed by Manhattan College in New York and Saint Xavier University in Chicago -- are fighting the regional NLRB's decisions, arguing that separation of church and state bars the governmental agency from exercising jurisdiction over the Catholic institution.

Georgetown University, a Jesuit school in Washington D.C., opted to remain neutral when its adjunct faculty voted to affiliate with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in 2013. The faculty overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the union. Contract negotiations are now underway.

A spokeswoman for Seattle said Thursday that no decision has been made on whether the Jesuit university will join the fight.