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Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers AAUP-AFT: 50th Anniversary

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Looking Ahead to a Semester of Struggle

January 17, 2023

Dear colleague,

Welcome back to another semester. We hope you got some rest, because we have a fight ahead of us.

We’re sure management’s insulting salary offer is fresh in your mind. After waiting more than half a year, we learned that the administration thinks we deserve a 5 percent salary CUT once inflation is taken into account. Nothing additional for graduate workers who make far below a living wage. Our paychecks are even smaller this month because health insurance costs went up on January 1. And management wants to expand their power to discipline faculty members and grad workers for vaguely defined “conduct unbecoming”—through inserting a chilling new clause in our contract amid the current right-wing attacks on tenure and academic freedom.

The good news for us—and bad news for management—is that higher ed workers are winning big salary increases and much more from coast to coast. For example, the contract ratified by University of California graduate workers will raise wages by nearly 50 percent over two years.

But you know this as well as us: it took a five-week strike to win that contract. We also have to be ready to take action—to strike, if that’s what it takes.

They have the money to meet our demands. In the latest scandalous news from Rutgers Athletics, the administration hired an assistant football coach at $1.4 million a year—while they’re still paying $1 million-plus to the assistant they fired last season. Some priorities, huh?

We urge you to join the fight for our students, our colleagues and communities—and ourselves. If you haven’t gone to Strike School yet, we’re planning a new round of workshops for the end of January and early February. Click here if you’re interested in attending. And we bring you this message from our adjunct faculty colleagues fighting for equal pay for equal work:

To start the semester “union strong,” the PTLFC is running a matching donation campaign for our strike fund. Between today and the end of February, the PTLFC will be matching donations to the strike fund, dollar for dollar, up to $40,000. Help us reach our goal and build our power as we gear up for the most important phase of our contract fight this spring! Click here to learn more about our strike fund and donate today, then share with a colleague or on your social media page.

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/
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Find out the status of our demands in bargaining at a glance.
Read about the proposals we’re putting forward.
See the updates from each bargaining session.
Find all the latest messages to members and union statements here.

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