Hacker News Reader

Comment by ro_bit | Hacker News Reader

This isn't a halting of paychecks during the strike. Tuition remission is awarded at the beginning of each semester a student is working. This would be like clawing back a signing bonus made to workers before a strike action, which from a cursory google search seems to be legally ambiguous at best.

View on HN

They arent working this semester, you can't take a signing bonus then not show up for work.

> you can't take a signing bonus then not show up for work.

You can if your union goes on strike between you getting your signing bonus and your start date. Striking is not the same as quitting in the eyes of the law.

Striking is not the same as quitting. If negotiations were ratified next week, workers would return and could not face retaliation in benefits or pay for striking. The university could withhold pay for missed shifts during the strike and potentially clawback a prorated portion of the remission at best, but clawing back remissions in their entirety and charging late fees for not paying by a deadline is bad faith and won't be looked upon fondly by the NRLB. While the decision will likely end up being made by a court, to me this definitely seems like illegal retaliation and not a case of students biting off more than they could chew.

What if they don't come to a agreement? They would owe tuition at that point (if they wish to continue attending classes) correct?

Right now there is no agreement, so that is reflected in the bills they have received, if a future agreement is reached an updated bill can be issued.

If you are part of a strike, then yes, actually, you are legally protected against some forms of retaliation, including possibly this form. We'll see how it plays out in court, but it is by no means as simple as you're laying out. This is not "people decided to not show up for work," it's a collective bargaining action against a very clearly hostile employer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com