TL;DR
At our 14th and final bargaining session before our contract expires, we came close to finalizing a few articles, while management refused to move on others. We presented extensive additions to Article 15 (Professional Duties) to protect teaching workloads and stabilize increasingly large class sizes through a faculty governance process, and overload compensation, and proposed changes to Article 45B (Clinical Faculty and Preservation of Negotiations Unit Work at RWJMS) to ensure that those performing teaching and other faculty responsibilities are and will remain part of the bargaining unit. Article 5 (Union Dues) and Article 9 (Grievance Procedure) moved closer to agreement, though the bargaining team held off on a tentative agreement on Article 9 until we can ensure everyone is covered by it. Rutgers rejected Article 3 (Recognition), continuing to insist on separate contracts for full-time faculty, lecturers, Winter/Summer teaching, fellows, and EOF Counselors.
Highlights from the Session
Management Refuses to Move on Recognition
We began the session with another discussion of Article 3 (Recognition), our proposal to unify representation by bringing currently unrepresented instructional employees—including Lecturers, fellows, and Winter/Summer Instructors (WSIs)—under a single contract.
As expected, management did not present a detailed counterproposal explaining their objections, instead rejecting our entire proposal.
When we asked for management’s rationale for maintaining separate contracts, they argued that Lecturers have different “roles,” that the university “needs the flexibility,” and that Lecturers are hired “only to teach the course,” with any service work they perform being voluntary.
Our bargaining team pushed back hard on this, noting that lecturers routinely perform many of the same responsibilities as other teaching faculty—including mentoring students, serving on governance bodies, writing recommendation letters, and advising student organizations—and are often expected to do so, even when those responsibilities are not formally recognized. As our team emphasized, students do not experience these faculty roles differently, and neither should the contract.
Our rebuttal also highlighted how the current system fragments instructional employees, leaving Graduate Fellows without representation, while graduate workers performing the same teaching duties can be treated differently depending on their funding source. Our team also noted that New Jersey labor law favors unified bargaining units and that our current contract already covers a wide range of faculty roles, demonstrating that diversity of appointments is not a barrier to a unified agreement.
Management indicated it would continue internal discussions on these issues.
Progress on Article 5 Dues Deduction
We reviewed management’s latest counter on Article 5 (Deduction of Professional Dues) and moved significantly closer to agreement.
Much of the discussion focused on ensuring the university’s payroll systems can reliably process dues deductions when employees move between positions or appointment types. Management said the new payroll system is expected to be implemented by March 2027 and proposed addressing part of the article through a side letter until then.
Management acknowledged that additional customization will be needed to ensure employees are categorized correctly, and the parties agreed to continue discussions in caucus.
Nearing Agreement on Article 9 Grievance Procedure pending RAFU inclusion
The parties again spent considerable time working through the timing issues in Article 9 and came very close to reaching a tentative agreement (TA), but when we made clear our intent that it apply to all of us, management balked at signing off.
Presented Article 45 Protecting Bargaining Unit Work
Our bargaining team presented the Union’s proposed revisions to Article 45B (Clinical Faculty and Preservation of Negotiations Unit Work), a proposal designed to clarify when faculty work belongs within the bargaining unit and to prevent the privatization and erosion of negotiated faculty positions. While prompted by issues at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the proposal applies to faculty across the university.
Rachel Sandalow-Ash (AAUP-AFT Contract Enforcement) explained that changes in hiring practices have created situations in which clinicians hired by Barnabas – a private healthcare system – are performing teaching, committee service, and other faculty responsibilities without the protections or recognition afforded to bargaining-unit Rutgers faculty. These hiring practices have already resulted in grievances that are headed to arbitration.
The proposal – which builds on existing contract language – establishes clear standards for defining bargaining unit work, providing greater clarity for both faculty and the university while reducing future disputes. Our bargaining team emphasized that faculty work should remain bargaining unit work, and that clear contract language is the best way to protect negotiated positions and prevent their gradual erosion over time.
Management Resisted Movement on Article 15 Professional Duties
We also initiated discussions on Article 15 (Professional Duties) regarding workload and course enrollment caps.
Howie Swerdloff (Adjunct Faculty Union Secretary; Labor Studies, New Brunswick) explained that these protections matter for all categories of teaching faculty, but are of special concern to Lecturers, citing recent examples of departments raising enrollment caps that affected their job security and resulted in loss of income.
In one case, three senior lecturers who had taught three asynchronous courses for years were required to teach the same number of students in just two sections, reducing their pay for the same workload. In another example he provided, the expansion of enrollment caps in the New Brunswick Writing Program contributed to the elimination of roughly three dozen adjunct positions by consolidating students into fewer, larger classes.
When asked if our proposal would take decision-making about course caps and workloads away from management, our bargaining team responded that the proposal is designed to ensure changes happen through a transparent shared governance process, with faculty making decisions that leverage their expertise, as is the current practice, for example, with decisions regarding new courses.
Next steps:
With the 4th of July holiday approaching, the unified bargaining team will take a break and shift to smaller management-labor meetings focused on more detailed issues, and we will come to the table with our Coalition of Rutgers Unions partners on common issues. While several articles are moving toward agreement, management continues to resist meaningful progress on some of our core priorities. Our bargaining team remains committed to pushing for a contract that recognizes the contributions of every member and strengthens protections across all bargaining units.
We’ll continue providing updates as negotiations move forward!
Other Upcoming Events
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Our Bargaining Team
| Austin | Rooney | Camden | Philosophy & Religion |
| Beth | Adubato | Newark | School of Criminal Justice |
| Bryan | Sacks | Camden | Philosophy & Religion |
| David | Letwin | College Ave-NB | Rutgers Arts Online |
| Howie | Swerdloff | Cook-NB | Labor Studies & Employee Relations |
| Boris | Paskhover | Newark | Otolaryngology (NJMS) |
| Catherine | Monteleone | RWJMS-NB | Medicine |
| Claire | O’Connell | Busch-Nb | School Of Health Professions |
| Cynthia | Sutton | RSDM-Newark | RSDM Diagnostic |
| Jeff | Levine | College Ave-NB | Family Medicine (RWJ) |
| Josh | Bucher | College Ave-NB | Emergency Medicine (RWJ) |
| Kathleen | Beebe | Newark | Orthopaedics (NJMS) |
| Melissa | Rogers | Newark | Microbiology (NJMS) |
| Pankaj | Agarwalla | Newark | Neurosurgery (NJMS) |
| Rula | Btoush | Newark | School of Nursing |
| Stephan | Schwander | NB Piscataway | SPH |
| Tessa | Bergsbaken | Newark | Immunity & Inflammation (NJMS) |
| LaToya | Gibbons | Camden | Enrollment & Student Success |
| Miguel | Rodriguez | College Ave-NB | School of Arts and Sciences |
| Adrian | Liu | College Ave-NB | Philosophy |
| Alexander | Steiner | RCI | Radiation Oncology |
| Annika | Barber | Busch-NB | Microbiology |
| Becky | Givan | Cook-NB | Labor Studies & Employee Relations |
| Britt | Paris | College Ave-NB | Library & Information Science |
| Bryan | Oller | Newark | Physics |
| Carlos | Decena | Livingston-NB | Latino & Hispanic Caribbean St |
| Chidera | Ntiwunka-Ifeanyi | Busch-NB | Biomedical Engineering |
| Emily | Marker | Camden | History |
| Ian | Oiler | Newark | Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine/Earth and Environmental Sciences |
| Kathy | Lopez | Camden | Public Policy |
| Kyle | Riismandel | Newark | History |
| Lee | Carpenter | Camden | Law School |
| Lily | Todorinova | Douglass-NB | New Brunswick Library |
| Paul | O’Keefe | Livingston-NB | Geography |
| Season | Qiu | Newark | Molecular And Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Tara | Matise | Busch-NB | Genetics |
| Heather | Pierce | College Ave-NB | Political Science |
| Luis | Soto | Livingston-NB | Criminal Justice |