The pact could open the way to one of the few collective bargaining agreements for graduate employees at a private university.

The Ithaca Voice reports.

Cornell breaks with other Ivies, sets path forward for grad student union

ITHACA, NY – Cornell bucked a trend among private universities on Wednesday by signing an agreement that would allow its roughly 2,300 graduate students to hold an election to form a collective bargaining union.

In 2004, the National Labor Relations Board decided that graduate students did not qualify as employees. That decision is expected to be overturned later this year, opening the door for grad students to unionize.

However, according to the Washington Post, most private universities including other Ivy League universities like Yale and Harvard, have argued strongly against unionization. They believe that teaching is part of the grad student education and that a union could interfere with the flexibility of curricula, since any changes could be subject to union negotiation.