Possible Rutgers strike looms: ‘Important decisions’ to be made Sunday

Karen Yi

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Louis C. Hochman

Published Apr 6, 2023

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About 8,000 faculty could strike at Rutgers University if a contract deal with administrators isn't reached soon.

Benjamin Clapp / Getty Images

Karen Yi

and

Louis C. Hochman

Published Apr 6, 2023

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Rutgers University faculty unions said they “expect to have important decisions and plans to make together” Sunday night as they prepare for the possibility of a strike that could interrupt classes for a university that serves 67,000 students.

The unions and administration faculty expected to continue bargaining through the weekend, leaders of three unions told their members in a notice on Thursday.

“The coming days will be decisive for us,” they wrote. “There has been some progress in bargaining in the last few days — a direct result of our members putting greater pressure on the administration — but we are still far apart on core demands, especially for grad workers, post-docs, and adjunct faculty.”

The University Senate — which is made up of faculty, student, staff, alumni and administrators who advise Rutgers' president — also has an emergency meeting on Friday about the effects of a possible strike. The senate recently asked Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway to rescind a claim that a strike would be illegal and promise he won't retaliate against striking faculty members. State law is silent on whether public employees can strike, but injunctions have previously been used to stop picketing K-12 teachers.

A strike would essentially shut down classes at New Jersey’s flagship public university, across its campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden. It would be the first teaching strike in the school’s 256-year history.

At the heart of the unions’ demands are increased pay and better job security for their most vulnerable members, including graduate workers who earn $30,000 per academic year, and part-time lecturers who must reapply for their jobs every semester, regardless of how long they’ve taught on campus.

The unions are asking for part-time lecturers to get proportionate pay to full-time faculty, and for adjunct faculty teaching two or more courses per semester to be given access to affordable health care plans — even if some of those courses are at other New Jersey schools.

Three unions have authorized their leaders to call a strike, a decision that could be made at any time. The AAUP-AFT represents 5,000 full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and Educational Opportunity Fund counselors. The Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union represents 2,700 part-time lecturers. The Rutgers AAUP-Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey represents about 1,300 physicians, researchers and health science faculty.

Rutgers is also in contract negotiations with unions representing administrative staff and resident physicians, though they’re not currently threatening to strike.

The administration said this week it has proposed a 12% pay increase for graduate assistants and teachers assistants, though unions have asked for double, to $37,000 per academic appointment. The university has also proposed 3% lump-sum payments to all faculty unions and a 20% increase in the per-credit pay rate for part-time lecturers.

In Thursday’s note, the unions said the administration “ doesn’t seem to understand that our unions are determined to fight together for our most vulnerable, lowest-paid colleagues.”

They were also encouraging faculty members to sign up for picket line shifts, and to attend a picket line training. The unions plan to hold a Q&A session for students on Saturday.

The work stoppage won’t affect clinical services or essential laboratory work, and professors will still continue to write letters of recommendations for students who ask, according to the unions.

The university said in an FAQ for students that their “ability to make progress toward earning your degree will remain our highest priority,” and that every effort would be made to ensure a strike doesn’t affect students’ progress toward graduation. But it hasn’t yet said what accommodations might be made for students — advising them to check in with their instructors on how to handle class assignments and final course grades. The school said libraries, computer labs and student services remain open.

It said “many classes will continue to meet in the event a strike is called,” but didn’t elaborate on which ones might.

“Negotiations have been happening on a daily basis for the past few weeks and we are committed to continuing to negotiate in good faith until agreements are reached,” Rutgers spokesperson Dory Devlin said on Thursday. “Both sides have indicated that progress is being made and we are hopeful that that momentum will continue."

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Karen Yi

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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.

Louis C. Hochman

After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.

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