Dear colleague,
Graduate workers know from our own experience and from surveys of members that hundreds of us perform the duties of GAs and TAs every year, but are misclassified as fellows—and are, as a consequence, underpaid by thousands of dollars a year, denied access to the state health insurance program, and sometimes charged student fees that are waived for TAs/GAs.
One of the most important victories in our new contracts won after the strike last spring is a process for grad fellows whose work is the same as TAs/GAs to be reclassified, so they can be represented under the AAUP-AFT contract and receive full TA/GA pay and benefits, including access to the same health insurance program. That makes AAUP-AFT one of the few higher ed unions in the country with any contract provisions to represent grad fellows.
Last semester, we filed a grievance to win back pay and other compensation for grad workers who were misclassified as fellows during the last academic year and current academic year—with the funding to come from the central administration, in keeping with the central funding language we won in our contract. You can click here to read the grievance (with individual narratives redacted). We plan on campaigning on this issue in social media and confronting the Rutgers Board of Governors with the facts when they meet later this month.
The false distinction between graduate workers and graduate fellows exists throughout higher education. We are taking the lead in challenging this unfair arrangement, which is exploited by administrations to save money and create artificial divisions. All educators, researchers, clinicians, and counselors deserve to be represented by a union and paid equitably, with full access to benefits, including quality health insurance.
In solidarity,
Megumi Asada, Fellows Organizing Committee, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Nusrath Yusuf, Vice President for Graduate Workers, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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