Takeaway: Attend the University Senate meeting on Friday, April 30, at 1 p.m. (click here for the Zoom link) and help us send a message to management that they must settle the contract with our postdoc colleagues and also resolve the more than 200 faculty pay equity cases. Please let us know if you’re coming by filling out this Google form.
Dear colleague,
Management is dragging its feet on two critical issues for our union. At the University Senate meeting Friday, April 30, at 1 p.m. (click here for the Zoom link), we’re going to let President Holloway know that this isn’t acceptable.
- Rutgers has starved research—and researchers—during a pandemic. Some 500 of our postdoc colleagues have been denied a living wage contract for nearly two years, but management continues to stonewall them at the negotiating table. That’s when they come to the negotiating table—numerous sessions have been canceled or postponed with little or no warning. Our postdocs work on cutting-edge research—including one of the first COVID tests—and other initiatives that enhance the university’s reputation. Yet they’re paid over 10 percent less than their Big Ten peers. This is NOT acceptable.
- We won a historic pay equity program to address inequities across gender, race, ethnicity, campuses, and other categories in our current contract. Several hundred faculty have applied to this program since it began in July 2019, but not a single one has received a salary adjustment after nearly two years. We continued discussions with management throughout this year to ensure a fair, just, and transparent process. But despite President Holloway saying equity issues were a top priority for him, management’s latest counter to our proposals was an insult. This is NOT acceptable.
We’re asking those of you who can to attend the University Senate meeting today (April 30) at 1 p.m. (click here for the Zoom link). Some senators will be raising our demands in the meeting itself. For the rest of you, we are asking you to replace your Zoom profile picture with a graphic demanding “Postdoc Contract NOW!” or “Resolve Pay Equity NOW!” and turn your cameras off so the graphics can be seen. You can download one of the graphics here. If you need to know how to change your profile picture in your rutgers.zoom.us account, follow these instructions. Please let us know if you’re coming by filling out this Google form.
President Holloway is scheduled to attend the University Senate meeting. We appreciate his statements about our “beloved community” at Rutgers. Now, though, he needs to act—to ensure that every valued colleague in the “beloved community” has a living wage contract and enjoys pay equity.
In solidarity,
Todd and Becky
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Union merch is now available at our web store! Order today at: https://rutgersaaup.myshopify.com.
Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @ruaaup
Freedom School YouTubeChannel: https://rutgersaaup.org/YouTube
Find the latest messages to members and union statements here.
Watch Todd’s video on the battles for our union today.