A week of marathon bargaining at the New Jersey state capital has produced a "framework agreement," suspending an historic faculty strike at Rutgers University.
Gov. Phil Murphy, who brought both parties to the negotiating table Monday to resume stalled talks, announced the agreement early Saturday morning to pause the five-day strike, the first such faculty action in the university's 256-year history.
“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," Murphy said in a statement.
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 in pursuit of job security and fair wages. The unions say educators had been working without a contract for nearly 300 days.
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Classes will resume at the university's three campuses (New Brunswick, Newark and Camden) on Monday for the 67,000 students, many joining picket lines over the past week. The university said fall course registration scheduled for Monday will also go forward as planned.
Rutgers and its faculty unions issued statements expressing satisfaction in the deal reached. The unions note that while the strike is suspended, their work stoppage would resume if the remaining sticking points are not hammered out in the days to come.
"We still have work to do to come to a full tentative agreement, and we will resume doing so next week. Most of all, we are eager to get back to teaching our students and helping them finish up spring semester," said Amy Higher, president of the Adjunct Faculty Union.
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At the crux of the strike was employee wages and equal pay for adjunct professors. The unions have said 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.
The unions argued that too many of their members simply don't make enough to pay the bills, while salaries and budgets increase for administrators and high-profile coaches.
Within the framework agreement reached at the end of the week, President Jonathan Holloway said new contracts would be retroactive to July 1, 2022. The new contracts look to increases pay for full-time faculty and EOF counselors by at least 14% by July 2025.
"The framework that was reached late last night between Rutgers and its faculty unions provides fair and equitable wages, benefits, and work conditions for our faculty as well as our graduate students and part-time lecturers," Holloway's Saturday message read.
The faculty unions said its leaders voted to accept the framework for new contracts and suspend the strike, but it would be up to the membership body to approve, by secret ballot, a full agreement when it's ready.
The university has updated its FAQ page for students with more information on what to expect following the tentative agreement.
