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As Rutgers faculty strike looms, more pressure on university president to reach a deal
By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 8, 2023
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By
Karen Yi
Published Apr 8, 2023
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Pressure is mounting on Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway to avert a teaching strike that could paralyze the institution.
On Friday, the school’s University Senate — a representative body of students, alumni and staff that advises the president — adopted a resolution urging Holloway to reach a fair deal with the unions and avoid a strike. The Senate also asked the president to refrain from using legal action to block a work stoppage by his employees and publicly declare the right of workers to peacefully strike.
In notices to the university community, Holloway last month called a strike by university faculty illegal and said he hoped he wouldn’t have to rely on the courts to stop it.
“He was the one who communicated directly to students, faculty, staff, the entire Rutgers community about his intentions should a strike occur. He is absolutely the one responsible here,” lecturer Heather Pierce, who is also a member of the University Senate, said on Friday in support of the resolutions. “This is not an attack but in fact a call for peaceful interactions.”
A second resolution asks the administration to provide the unions and University Senate with access to university email that Holloway used to communicate updates on labor negotiations.
Rutgers spokesperson Dory Devlin said on Friday that administration officials were “continuing to negotiate in good faith and believe that progress is being made.”
University administrators and the unions planned to negotiate through this weekend. But the unions have scheduled a meeting with members on Sunday night as they prepare for the possibility of a strike that would disrupt classes for 67,000 students across Rutgers’ three campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden. It would be the first teaching strike in Rutgers' history.
The unions have said they “expect to have important decisions and plans to make together” at Sunday’s session.
Student support for the union and against what the university is doing is absolutely vital.
Rutgers-Newark sophomore Kai Cobbs, 20, officer with the Rutgers One student coalition
Rutgers-Newark sophomore Kai Cobbs, 20, said he supports the unions and will join his teachers on the picket line if they go on strike.
“Student support for the union and against what the university is doing is absolutely vital. The students are the customers here, so customers are always right,” said Cobbs, an officer at Rutgers One, a student coalition supporting the unions.
He said he's been door-knocking at dorms to rally support and some students are worried a strike could affect their grades or graduation plans.
University officials haven't yet said what accommodations they'll make if classes are canceled. They issued an FAQ for students recommending that students check in with their instructors on how to handle classwork and clarifying that libraries, computer labs and student services would remain open. Unions have also said that faculty will still write letters of recommendation to students who request them, and that health services and essential lab work will continue.
The unions that could authorize a strike include AAUP-AFT representing 5,000 full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and Educational Opportunity Fund counselors; the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, representing 2,700 part-time lecturers; and the Rutgers AAUP-Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey, representing about 1,300 physicians, researchers and health science faculty.
At the core of their demands are better pay for graduate workers, who earn $30,000 an academic year and health insurance plans, and job security for lecturers, who must reapply for their jobs every semester.
During Friday’s University Senate meeting, lecturer Cynthia Saltzman said she’s taught at Rutgers-Camden for 30 years and has reapplied for her job 60 times.
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Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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