Dear colleague,
It may have been wet and cold, but yesterday was a beautiful day for our unions! We joined together with our students and staff and faculty colleagues on four campuses for rallies that sent our message loud and clear: We’re fed up with hearing “no” from the administration, and we want a fair contract now!
Thank you to all of you who worked so hard to make yesterday a success and an important step forward for our contract campaign. Despite the rain, we had over 800 people come out in all: 500 on College Avenue, 125 in Newark, 60 in Camden, and 130 for our first-ever large action on Busch campus! On College Avenue, we marched from Voorhees Mall to Winants Hall, where we made sure the Board of Governors and top administrators meeting inside could hear us. Students, staff, and faculty from across the Rutgers system sent the same messages during the Board’s public comments section.
We had great media coverage—check out the list of segments and stories below, especially the TV coverage. And if you want to get ready for more action in the spring semester, we’ll be rerunning our popular Strike School starting in January. Fill out this form to sign up for two virtual 90-minute workshops developed and led by member-organizers and staff.
Many thanks again for your efforts and support yesterday. We have a fight ahead of us, but we’ve taken an important step forward toward winning the contract we deserve!
Media coverage of December 6
- NJ Spotlight News, “Rutgers workers rally for fair contract, conditions”
- News12, “Rutgers professors hold rally to demand new contract, pay increase”
- ABC7, “Rutgers University faculty, staff demand answer from administration union contract proposals”
- Politico, “Strike talk heats up among Rutgers faculty unions; national labor leaders signal their support” (this excellent story is behind a paywall; click here to read a pdf)
- Daily Targum, “Rutgers AAUP-AFT gathers hundreds in continued fight for fair contracts”
- Patch.com, “Rutgers teachers, staff rally for contracts in Newark, other campuses”
- NJ.com, “Faculty unions rally at Rutgers to demand new contracts”
- MyCentralJersey.com, “Rutgers faculty, students rally over union contract talks”
- MyCentralJersey.com (picture gallery), “Rutgers faculty, students rally for better work conditions”
- Bernie Sanders on Twitter
- AFTNJ, “Solidarity aplenty in New Brunswick as Rutgers unions rally for fair contracts”
In solidarity,
Becky and Todd
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
Follow us on Twitter @ruaaup and Instagram @rutgersaaup
Freedom School YouTubeChannel: https://rutgersaaup.org/YouTube
See the updates from each bargaining session.
Read about the proposals we’re putting forward in bargaining.
Find the latest messages to members and union statements here.
Read our FAQ: Know Your Contract, Know Your Rights!