A week of bargaining at the New Jersey state capital seems to have finally clinched progress as the historic Rutgers strike entered its fifth day on Friday, offering a sign of hope for a speedy conclusion with only weeks to go before semester exams.
Word of a tentative agreement on a key sticking point among negotiations came from the faculty unions at the end of the week -- it's the first major sign of progress since thousands of faculty members went on strike Monday for the first time in the university's history.
The tentative agreement would make non-tenured full-time professors eligible for "presumptive renewal." Basically, those staff members would not have to reapply at the end of their contacts, as current policy dictates.
“This is game-changing for faculty members who haven’t had the protection of tenure,” said Rutgers AAUP-AFT President Rebecca Givan. “We’ve taken an important step toward confronting the precarity faced by over 70 percent of the educators, researchers, and clinicians at Rutgers."
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Negotiations have been ongoing all week, and were expected to continue for a full day on Friday and well into the weekend. Some of the talks this week have gone well into the night, even past midnight, University President Jonathan Holloway explained in a campus-wide message Thursday.
The union says they've gone nearly 300 days without a contract. At the crux of the standstill are employee wages and equal pay for adjunct professors. The unions say it's unfair that adjuncts have to reapply for their jobs each semester regardless of their tenure, and that grad students don't receive a living wage for their services. They also want better pay for clinical workers at the university's health facilities across its sprawling campuses.
Three faculty unions representing about 9,000 educators, researchers and clinicians at the college's three main regional campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, voted unanimously to authorize the strike after labor negotiations stalled last weekend. It's the first such strike in the school's 257-year history.
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"The key is we are fighting for better work conditions for our faculty so that students' learning conditions can be improved," said Media Studies Professor Deepa Kumar.
The unions have argued that too many of their members simply don't make enough to ay the bills, while salaries and budgets increase for administrators and high-profile coaches.
Picket lines have formed at all three campuses as well as the state capital, often times taking to neighboring streets to get the message out. Some have stood outside the homes of members of the board of governors.
"If we can get members of the board of governors to listen to us and then talk to [President Holloway], that I would think would help push the negotiations forward," said Hank Kalet, striking adjunct professor.
Countless students have joined in to show their support for the faculty, weeks before the end of the semester.
"I still have concerns, but at the end of the day, this isn't about me It's about the people educating me," said senior Lauren Lake.
The full impact the strike will have on the close of the semester for the university's 67,000 students remains uncertain, as they see exams and assignment dates repeatedly pushed back.
"There's a rumor it'll go to pass/fail; there's a rumor we could get all A's; there's a rumor that it's like no credit even, but we're not too sure," said sophomore Dylan Eskow.
Rutgers says it is cautiously optimistic it will reach an agreement quickly with several unions, including AAUP-AFT and Part-Time Lecturer Faculty Chapter of the AAUP-AFT. It also says it has held more than 100 bargaining sessions with union leadership and will continue talks until comprehensive agreements are made on compensation and other issues.
In the meantime, the university says it is open and operating on a normal schedule, with just weeks left in the semester, as negotiations continue. This FAQ page for students has more on the strike implications.
"The continued academic progress of our students is our number one concern, and we will do all that we can so that their progress is not impeded by a strike," Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway said in a statement.
In an email to the campus community on Sunday, Holloway said that "to say that this is deeply disappointing is an understatement, especially given that just two days ago, both sides agreed in good faith to the appointment of a mediator to help us reach agreements."
Talks between both parties resumed Monday, with Gov. Phil Murphy hoping to bring about a quick resolution.
"I expect a result, a deal that is a fair one for all parties, ASAP. But I am not a fan of a deal that's on the back of our students," he said.
“We’ve already accomplished more in a few days than we did in months, thanks to Governor Murphy’s invitation for us to bargain in Trenton and the strength of our members on the picket line,” Givan said Friday. “But hard issues remain, and we have some distance to go before we have a contract.”
