Bargaining Update #12 – June 16, 2026

TL;DR 

Our unified bargaining team met with management at Winants Hall on June 16 and presented three proposals: to facilitate faculty transfer between promotion tracks; to put protections in place for faculty, students, and patients regarding the pending medical school merger;  and to provide contractual protections to our newly unionized physician and dentist members working in New Jersey prisons. By the end of this week, we will have presented nearly all of our proposals. Management gave us yet another counterproposal on Article 9 (Grievances), but nothing else.

Highlights of the Session

Transfer Between Promotion Tracks

  • This article – which incorporates elements of the existing union contract and university policies – would ensure (1) that faculty can transfer between NTT tracks and (2) that NTT faculty can apply for tenure track positions, and 3) the TT faculty can transfer to NTT tracks.  Being able to transfer tracks in a prudent, flexible way will enable faculty to be fully recognized for their accomplishments, to successfully apply for promotion,  and to continue to advance in their careers.  
  • The faculty appointment committee would have the first look at track transfer requests, with a level of vetting. 
  • Management had no questions regarding the union proposal

Medical School Merger 

  • The University is engaged in an ongoing effort to merge the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) in New Brunswick and New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) in Newark. This merger has always been controversial, and it has never been supported by the faculty. Our understanding is that the proposed merger is still in process and has been submitted to the accrediting body. The unions are looking to ensure that bargain on this if the merger is completed during the term of the upcoming union contract. 
  • We want to ensure that, in the event of a med school merger, there are protections in place for faculty, students, and patients at both campuses. To that end, we put forward a proposal that would:
    • Protect faculty workloads and commuting time by ensuring that faculty will not be required to work at both medical schools, and ensuring that unit members will be fairly compensated for any increased workload or hours resulting from the merger of the medical schools. 
    • Protect the collections-based faculty compensation structure at NJMS. 
    • Ensure that resources are not diverted away from University Hospital in Newark. In recent years, many hospitals and healthcare facilities in New Jersey have been acquired by private companies or organizations such as RWJBarnabas. University Hospital – where NJMS faculty work – remains an independent, public hospital serving the people of Newark. The med school merger should not be used to privatize or defund this crucial hospital.  
    • Ensure that students in each location will have an equal education, with access to the same resources, same faculty to student ratios, etc.
  • Management had questions about the financial part of the proposal, saying that from the university’s perspective, how the departments are financed is not negotiable. However, they acknowledged that if there are impacts on members as a result of the merger, that would be negotiable.
  • Regarding the financial aspect of the proposal, the union responded that it’s intended to create transparency, especially for departmental level budgets. 

University Correctional Health Care (UCHC) Workload and Patient Care 

  • Last year, a group of almost 50 non-faculty physician specialists and dentists joined our union through a card check. Around half of these physician specialists and dentists work in the prison system through “University Correctional Healthcare” (UCHC), where they provide healthcare to a particularly vulnerable patient population. 
  • Dr. Drew Tepper, a physician specialist at UCHC, spoke on the Unions’ proposal to establish fair workloads for all physician specialists and dentists, as well as safe levels of psychiatric coverage. Previously, physician specialists were not covered under the contract. Now that they have a seat at the table, he said they are looking to “codify existing practices and bring together a more comprehensive description of psychiatric caseloads, one that accounts for the additional patient populations” so as to ensure fair workloads for physicians and high-quality care for all patients.” 
  • Management said that they would review the proposal with UCHC leadership. 

University Counter: Grievance Procedure (Article 9)

  • Management stated they don’t agree to our proposed expansion of the definition of category 2 grievances (those involving non-mandatory subjects of negotiations, and resolved through non-binding arbitration) to include violations of university policy.
  • Management and the unions disagree on the amount of time needed to appoint a mediator. Our goal is to shorten the grievance process and make it more effective. For example, when selecting a mediator, the union’s experience is that it’s not always timely; turnover can impact the process, and there has been more friction than is necessary. There can be disagreements about who is next up on the panel; it can be challenging to schedule the mediation, and it can take several weeks.  
  • Both union and management did agree on the spirit — if not the letter– of sharing information regarding grievance status and tracking, but are still working to figure out what this would look like in practice.
  • Management’s current counter does not allow us to accelerate the timeline in cases of “immediate health or safety problems” or for reasonable accommodation concerns, so the union’s team will need to determine how to respond. 

Next steps: 

On Thursday, June 18, we will finish presenting every major proposal with only a few odds and ends left to go. We have yet to hear back from management on 99% of our proposals.  In particular, we need to hear their response to our Recognition article, which impacts most everything else. Our contract expires in thirteen days. 

Mark your calendar!

Our next scheduled session is on Thursday, June 25, from 10AM-2PM.

Other Upcoming Events

Click here for a full calendar

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