New York Catholic university files federal lawsuit over forced collective bargaining rule

A historic Catholic university in New York City has filed a federal lawsuit against state officials amid a dispute over collective bargaining with faculty unions.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court on June 1, alleges that the New York State Public Employment Relations Board is infringing on its “fundamental constitutional right” to religious liberty by presumptively exercising jurisdiction over the schoolʼs union bargaining policy.

In February the school announced that it would no longer recognize two unions on campus, the St. John’s University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the Faculty Association. Both had been formed in 1970.

A school spokesman said the decision would “allow [the school] the flexibility required to innovate while continuing to support our faculty and, most importantly, deliver on our promise to our students.”

The unions subsequently filed a complaint with the state Public Employment Relations Board, alleging that the schoolʼs decision, along with changes to faculty employment terms, violated the New York State Employment Relations Act.

In its June 1 filing, the school said the First Amendment and extensive court precedent prohibits the state board from what the university described as “excessive government entanglement with religion.”

The lawsuit alleges that the unionʼs request would require the school to share its decision-making authority with both union leaders and the state government, even on issues that are “essential to its mission.”

Oversight from the state board would “[prevent] St. John’s from exercising its First Amendment right to freely govern itself in accordance with its Catholic and Vincentian mission and faith,” the suit says.

The state labor board did not immediately respond to a request for comment from EWTN News regarding the federal lawsuit.

Earlier this year the school received criticism from some community members for its decision to withdraw from union bargaining.

Sophia Bell, the president of the St. John’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, called the decision “a disastrous mistake.”

“[School president Father Brian Shanley] is violating New York state law and ignoring decades of St. John’s institutional practice and centuries of Catholic social teaching around respect for labor and workers,” Bell told EWTN News.

The school was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Queens, New York.