Travis.Thurston / Wikimedia Commons HONOLULU — University of Hawaii graduate assistants have sued for the right to unionize and bargain for better pay and working conditions. Three graduate students and Academic Labor United, which represents graduate assistants, filed the lawsuit Saturday against the Board of Regents, the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and the state of Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Graduate assistants perform research, teach classes, hold office hours and grade student work while earning their own advanced degrees. The state constitution gives public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively. But the Hawaii Labor Relations Board determined in 1972 that graduate assistants are not public employees, and so they may not join faculty or staff unions.