Professional Staff Congress-City University v. New York State Public Employment Relations Board

**What Happened:** The Professional Staff Congress, a union representing City University of New York employees, wanted to negotiate changes to the university's intellectual property policy. This policy determines who owns the rights to research, inventions, and creative work produced by faculty and staff. The university refused to negotiate, saying the union had already given up its right to bargain over this issue in their previous contract. The union disagreed and filed a complaint with the state employment board. **What the Court Decided:** New York's highest court ruled in favor of the university. The court found that when the union's contract included language waiving their right to negotiate intellectual property policies, that waiver remained valid even after the contract expired. Since the union had voluntarily given up this negotiating right in their agreement, the university was not required to bargain over intellectual property policy changes. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This decision shows that unions must be very careful about what rights they agree to give up during contract negotiations. Even after a contract ends, those waivers can continue to limit what workers can negotiate in future contracts. Workers should understand what their unions are agreeing to surrender permanently versus temporarily.