NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A tentative agreement on a framework for contracts put a pause on the strike at Rutgers University, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Saturday around 1 a.m.
Three faculty unions at Rutgers University have been on strike for five days seeking better wages and more job security. With the framework agreement in hand and negotiations progressing, staff will return to class on Monday.
“After five days of intensive dialogue and negotiations in my office, I am pleased to share that the Rutgers University and union bargaining committees have come to an agreement,” said Murphy. “This fair and amicable conclusion respects the interests of many different stakeholders, upholds New Jersey’s values, and puts an end to a standoff that was disruptive to our educators and students alike.”
It’s not yet clear when a final contract will be ready to present to union membership, and faculty have the option to return to the picket line should talks break down, but some details have already been established.
Adjunct faculty, or Part-Time Lecturers (PTLs) in the parlance of Rutgers, will get a 43.8% raise over the course of the contract, which would run through 2025 and apply some provisions retroactively to 2021. That would bring the current rate of $5,799 for a three-credit course to $8,331.
“Any raise is meaningful, but that is much more than we’ve seen in the past. It still doesn’t really bring us to this place where we don’t have to scramble,” Amanda Thackray, a PTL printmaking teacher at Rutgers, told 1010 WINS. “The more important part, and I think a lot of PTLs would agree with me, is job security.”
The framework implements one-year contracts instead of semester-long contracts. The new contracts would also be “presumptively renewable,” meaning if the college doesn’t fire the educator, the contract will automatically renew.
“If a semester is three months long, that means your employment changes dramatically sometimes every three months,” said Thackray. “It also means we’re unpaid over the summer as well.”
Scheduling can be volatile making salary unpredictable, said Thackray, recalling a time she was asked to teach a course within a week of the class’s start date.
That uncertainty has led her to sometimes overload her schedule working more than a tenured professor might in order to prepare for the potential that she gets less work than she needs in future semesters.
Union representatives said PTLs who had been working at the school for long periods of time could see even longer contracts and that contract renewal would guarantee the same number of credits, making year-to-year salary more stable.
“That gives us job security, but also the academic freedom to do our jobs,” said Carla Katz, the vice president for full-time, non-tenure track faculty. “It’s a blow to adjunctification and contingency.”
Postdoctoral fellows will get a 27.9% raise over the course of the contract as well as full benefits.
Teaching assistants and graduate assistants would see a salary increase of 33%, ending with an annual wage of $40,000 in 2025.
Maria Garth, a grad worker and member of the bargaining committee said the figure was “short of a living wage, but this is an improvement.”
The governor's office said the agreement will increase salaries for full-time faculty and financial assistance counselors by at least 14% by 2025.
“The framework agreed to last night resolves most of the outstanding economic issues with three of our faculty unions and brought an immediate halt to the faculty strike,” said a spokesperson for Rutgers. “Our top priority is to support our students and to further their studies and academic progress.”
Both union and university representatives indicated much of the ongoing negotiation is now focused on medical faculty, the only union out of the three that is not included in the framework.
“There are still some outstanding issues, including with our medical faculty,” said the Rutgers spokesperson. “However, given the consensus reached last night, we are optimistic that the membership will vote to ratify the contracts when fully completed.”
In a town hall Saturday, Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union President Amy Higer said biomedical faculty “still need some big wins” and indicated the potential for a return to the strike if an agreement is not reached.
Related
Related
Related
