Takeaway: Join us this Friday at 12 noon for the “We R the University” rally (click here to tell us you’re coming). Share an invitation to attend and information about our contract campaign with your students.
Dear colleague,
We’re organizing this fall for a strong contract that helps us achieve a better Rutgers. We want our students to know about our campaign—and to ask them to support our efforts.
Please use these resources created by members to spread the word in your classes about the ongoing contract campaign and especially about our September 23 “We R the University” rally before President Holloway’s “State of the University” address (12 noon outside Alexander Library on the College Ave. campus; click here to tell us you’re coming, if you haven’t already):
- Look below for suggested language to edit and share as a class announcement via Canvas or email.
- Use this slide deck to give students an introduction to the contract campaign. You can also use this video presentation of the same slides.
- Share this virtual flier for the September 23 “We R the University” rally via Canvas or email.
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 and Instagram: @ruaaup
Freedom School YouTubeChannel: https://rutgersaaup.org/YouTube
Class Announcement to Edit and Share
As your [TEACHER/PROFESSOR/INSTRUCTOR/TEACHING ASSISTANT] for this course, I wanted to let you know about teaching and research conditions here at Rutgers and what my union (Rutgers AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdocs, and counselors) has been doing to try to improve them.
We are working without a contract. What does that mean?
We have been working without a contract since June 30 and are in negotiations for a new agreement, alongside our sibling unions. Because we are without a contract, no one who teaches at Rutgers received a raise this school year, at a time of rapid inflation. Adjunct faculty and graduate TAs, who make up a large portion of the teaching faculty at Rutgers, remain without a livable wage. As many as 200 graduate workers at Rutgers have been denied the funding necessary to finish their research after their work was disrupted by COVID.
Rutgers has the money to improve your classes and meet our demands
Even though Rutgers has MORE money today than at the beginning of the pandemic, the administration has not acted to change any of these conditions—and it hasn’t addressed ANY of our key demands in contract negotiations. The working conditions of your instructors and all workers at Rutgers affect your learning conditions. By refusing to meet our demands for better teaching, research, and working conditions, the administration is demonstrating its lack of concern for the educational mission of this university.
Want to learn more?
Click here for more information and to see how you can support our campaign for just wages and working conditions for all employees at Rutgers University.
Get involved and show your support for all Rutgers workers
- Join us on September 23 for a rally in advance of President Holloway’s “State of the University” speech to the University Senate. We will be outside Alexander Library on the College Avenue campus. Join us to support your teachers and all Rutgers workers and say: “We R the University!” Afterwards, there will be food and beverages back at union headquarters at 11 Stone Street, and the chance to socialize. Click here to let us know you’re coming.
- If you’re involved in a student organization—or even if you’re not, but want to get more information—reach out to our Student Organizer (and recent RU alum!) Anjali Madgula: amadgula@rutgersaaup.org
- Stay up to date about our contract campaign by visiting our union’s linktree: https://linktr.ee/ruaaup (and the RutgersOne linktree: https://linktr.ee/RutgersOne). Come to actions and share posts on social media about your experiences as students and why you support Rutgers unions. Follow and tag us and other Rutgers unions on social media. You can use these hashtags: #FairContractNow #EducatedByUnionLabor #WeRtheUniversity #TheRutgersWeDeserve #I<3RUnions