Bargaining Update #21 – August 20, 2026

TL;DR

On August 20, the unified bargaining team met with management’s team in the Knightsbridge offices in Piscataway. The session focused primarily on reviewing a high-level financial presentation by Rutgers management, in which they made the absurd and enraging statement that “every 1% increase in salary & fringe requires a 2.3% increase in tuition.” The session concluded with some discussion of the union counters on the Title IX Side Letter and Article 14A (Reappointment & Promotion of Tenure Track Faculty). 

Highlights from the Session

Management Presents on Rutgers’ Finances 

Management began the session with a long, highly selective presentation on the new financial information and the budget for the current fiscal year. There were two core takeaways from the presentation. 

First, Rutgers has a $6.2 billion budget, and management wants to create a 5% “margin” of $300 million. This is an aspirational goal, and yet it is shaping their entire approach to negotiations. Management tried to cast this 5% margin as “fiscal responsibility,” stating that the intention was “not about profit but about maintaining operations.” However, for context, Rutgers already has $1 billion in unrestricted reserves available. Now, management is proposing to set aside — not use — $300 million a year. Our unions argued that every dollar Rutgers does not spend on its core mission of teaching, clinical care, and research deprives the university of much-needed resources. Our unions want a clearer picture of where that money will go, if not back to its students and community. 

Second, management argued in this presentation that any increase in faculty or staff salaries would equate directly to increases in tuition and fees for students. There’s no reason for pairing these two items, not when the university has many other expenses, and other means of raising revenue (see our Open the Books presentation) and yet by pairing these items, they are clearly trying to create a narrative that pits faculty against the students whom they serve. 

Management did not include how much patient care revenue the medical faculty brings in on the BHSNJ side. We know that it has increased by at least $100 million when compared with this time five years ago. Of course, for a presentation on a $6.2 billion budget, choices must be made about what to include and omit in a slide show. However, the choices were intended to tell a particular story that diminished the impact of medical revenue and painted a picture of austerity. 

At one point in management’s presentation, a member of management’s team said that “$40 million dollars is just a drop in the bucket” compared to Rutgers’ entire budget. This admission seemed especially notable to the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union leaders at the table, who are aware that the total compensation for all lecturers, who teach nearly 30% of the classes, amounts to only $50 million. If $40 million is only a drop in the bucket, then $50 million is only a marginally larger drop in that same bucket. Meanwhile, Rutgers is trying to set aside a strategic reserve of up to $300 million a year. With that in mind, there can be absolutely no justification for complaints about raises that lecturers may demand. Lecturers account for 7-8% of revenue from tuition and fees, yet represent less than 1% of the total budget.

Union Counters: Title IX Side Letter and Article 14

There was additional discussion about the Title IX Side Letter, with a particular focus on the appeals process for Title IX violations, part of the changes to the disciplinary process required by a recent state supreme court ruling. The parties are trying to create a process that is both compliant and fair, including for cases where possible discipline may involve de-tenuring a tenured faculty member. 

The session ended with the union providing a counter on Article 14A (Reappointment & Promotion of Tenure Track Faculty). Becky Givan presented the changes, emphasizing the need for a single process for all Rutgers faculty, including RBHS faculty.

Next Steps

Our union will review the financial information provided in today’s session and determine next steps. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Friday, September 4, and will include members of the Coalition of Rutgers Unions (CRU) at the table to bargain on shared issues. 

Other Upcoming Events

Click here for a full calendar: https://rutgersaaup.org/events/.

Our Bargaining Team

AustinRooneyCamdenPhilosophy & Religion
BethAdubatoNewarkSchool of Criminal Justice
BryanSacksCamdenPhilosophy & Religion
DavidLetwinCollege Ave-NBRutgers Arts Online
HowieSwerdloffCook-NBLabor Studies & Employee Relations
BorisPaskhoverNewarkOtolaryngology (NJMS)
CatherineMonteleoneRWJMS-NBMedicine
ClaireO’ConnellBusch-NbSchool Of Health Professions
CynthiaSuttonRSDM-NewarkRSDM Diagnostic
JeffLevineCollege Ave-NBFamily Medicine (RWJ)
JoshBucherCollege Ave-NBEmergency Medicine (RWJ)
KathleenBeebeNewarkOrthopaedics (NJMS)
MelissaRogersNewarkMicrobiology (NJMS)
PankajAgarwallaNewarkNeurosurgery (NJMS)
RulaBtoushNewarkSchool of Nursing
StephanSchwanderNB PiscatawaySPH
TessaBergsbakenNewarkImmunity & Inflammation (NJMS)
LaToyaGibbonsCamdenEnrollment & Student Success
MiguelRodriguezCollege Ave-NBSchool of Arts and Sciences
AdrianLiuCollege Ave-NBPhilosophy
AlexanderSteinerRCIRadiation Oncology
AnnikaBarberBusch-NBMicrobiology
BeckyGivanCook-NBLabor Studies & Employee Relations
BrittParisCollege Ave-NBLibrary & Information Science
BryanOllerNewarkPhysics
CarlosDecenaLivingston-NBLatino & Hispanic Caribbean St
ChideraNtiwunka-IfeanyiBusch-NBBiomedical Engineering
EmilyMarkerCamdenHistory
IanOilerNewarkInstitute for Quantitative Biomedicine/Earth
and Environmental Sciences
KathyLopezCamdenPublic Policy
KyleRiismandelNewarkHistory
LeeCarpenterCamdenLaw School
LilyTodorinovaDouglass-NBNew Brunswick Library
PaulO’KeefeLivingston-NBGeography
SeasonQiuNewarkMolecular And Behavioral Neuroscience
TaraMatiseBusch-NBGenetics
HeatherPierceCollege Ave-NBPolitical Science
LuisSotoLivingston-NBCriminal Justice