TL;DR
In today’s session, we received an informal verbal rejection of Article 3, Recognition, which would put all of us into a single bargaining unit and one contract. We continued to negotiate Article 4– Prohibited Discrimination and Prohibited Harassment; there are disagreements with management about whether and how to codify “caste.” We presented Article 7 on Union Rights, and Article 42 on Research Support, which aims to provide uninterrupted funding for research. We await a response on the Academic Freedom article and continue to bargain with total unity as we move through our articles.
Highlights of the Session
The session was broken into three parts. The first involved a discussion of the non-discrimination article (Article 4). The core remaining issue is that the university does not want the category of “caste” to be included among protected groups. The union and the university agree that caste is protected under the law in the State of New Jersey, but remain in disagreement about whether it should be written into our contract. We currently remain at an impasse over whether the word will be included.
The university responded with a verbal rejection of our recognition article (Article 3) – this is the article that states that we bargain one contract as one union: all teaching and research faculty, librarians, physicians, clinical faculty, lecturers, post-docs, fellows, coadjutants, counselors, and winter-summer instructors. Management seems intent on bargaining with each unit individually, but we will continue to present coherent, well-thought-through, and connected proposals as one faculty, regardless. Management knows, like we do, that our unity is in our strength.
Article 7 – Union Rights
Rebecca Givan presented a brief overview of Article 7 on Union Rights. This proposal ensures that all contractual terms are enforceable and that unit members have access to binding arbitration. Some other key items in this proposal are as follows:
- Expand paid time off for union work and union access to campus parking and office space.
- Employees have the right to be accompanied by a union representative at any meeting where the employee reasonably believes the meeting may lead to discipline.
- The AAUP-AFT shall be entitled to make presentations, for at least 30 minutes, at orientations conducted for international students and faculty. (This is in addition to the Union’s other rights to address new hires at orientations).
Management asked several questions about specific details, then said they will review and get back to us.
42 – Research Funding
Annika Barber led a discussion of research funding issues, and put forward our proposed Article 42. This proposal removes some of the hurdles in the research process, especially in the gaps between funding approval and funding receipt, and between research actually carried out and grant timing. Our Article 42 proposal focused on how we are going to fund increases in wages and benefits for those who work in Rutgers’ labs who work on fixed budgets. We are also proposing that the university set aside funds for researchers as bridge and seed funds. This is especially critical these days as we see federal cuts to grants for scientific research.
Key points in this proposal:
- Provide bridge funding support for grant-funded non-tenure track faculty who have gaps in grant funding, after five years of continuous employment.
- Memorialize Rutgers New Brunswick emergency funding program in CBA and expand the program to include all Chancellor-led units.
- Accept indirect facilities and administrative (F&A) cap set by external funding sources.
- Memorialize extension of the tenure clock under emergency situations and implement through standard university-wide procedures.
- Set forth a procedure for implementation of central funding to cover unbudgeted grant expenses—an efficient procedure that does not rely on a reimbursement process.
- Strengthen the current bridge funding program. The RBHS programs provide a model that may be adapted to other CLUs.
- Accept indirect facilities and administrative (F&A) cap set by external funding sources.
Management expressed concern about the cost of bridge funding and asked what is included under that cost, as well as asked questions about the teaching release. We await a full response in a future session.
Mark your calendar!
The next session is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, from 10a to 2p, when we plan to present our critical job security proposals! Please attend if you can via Zoom (and attend an orientation session first if you have not done so already, also via Zoom– orientation links were sent to members by email)!
Other Upcoming Events
Click here for a full calendar: https://rutgersaaup.org/events/
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 |