If the NLRB rules in favor of the Columbia and New School grad students, it "will be a huge step forward, both in that we will be able to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions, and also in that we will be recognized as workers," said Eric Powell, 31, a doctoral candidate in English Language and Literature at the U. of C. and a member of Graduate Students United, which is jointly affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors.