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Rutgers AAUP-AFT: 50th Anniversary

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Here’s How Our Union Is Fighting for the Common Good

February 3, 2023

Takeaway: Take the 2023 Strike Pledge (if you haven’t already) to show management we are ready to act to win a fair contract. Join students, our community allies, and your colleagues for a Housing Justice Town Hall on Wednesday, February 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the College Avenue Community Church, 100 College Ave. Click here to RSVP.

Click here to read the Bargaining for the Common Good Coalition report

Dear colleague,

The contracts our unions win this semester will have a big impact on our lives. But we also want a strong contract that benefits our students and the communities beyond our campuses.

That’s why our union put forward a critical proposal in December that we call “For the Common Good of the Beloved Community.” Specifically, we are calling on the administration to:

  • Freeze housing rates on all Rutgers rental properties and champion affordable housing around our campuses;
  • Establish a debt forgiveness program for students and alumni punished for having outstanding debts;
  • Create a “Beloved Community Fund” for local residents in need; and
  • Commit to an ongoing community-union-university effort to work for the common good.

Grad workers, postdocs, and new faculty burdened by skyrocketing rents in one of the most expensive areas of the country need Rutgers to freeze housing costs. But we also know our future is bound together with the future of our students and the communities where we work and live. The fight for a better Rutgers is a fight for them, too.

Since 2018, our union has been working with students and community organizations such as New Labor and Cosecha to understand the immense impact that Rutgers has in the cities where our campuses are located, especially New Brunswick. When Rutgers sets high prices for room and board, other landlords also raise rent, and developers are encouraged to build unaffordable luxury housing. Together, a coalition of students, Rutgers employees, and community members produced a report, titled “R Homes R Community,” that helped us come up with our contract demands.

On Wednesday, February 15, at 6:30 p.m., students from Rutgers One and members of Cosecha, New Labor, and our unions will come together in New Brunswick for a Housing Justice Town Hall to discuss how we can build our fight on campus and off. Please join us at the College Avenue Community Church (100 College Ave.); click here to RSVP.

We are waiting for a response from management on our common good demands. But we know from their foot-dragging since bargaining began over eight months ago that we need to show them we’re ready to take action—including a strike if necessary—if they don’t meet our demands. Almost 1,400 of you have taken the 2023 Strike Pledge. If you haven’t already, please add your voice now. Then share the link (RutgersAAUP.org/StrikePledge) with colleagues!


Reminders

  • Sign up for Strike School! Click here to register for two virtual 90-minute training sessions on organizing to win being held multiple times through February 24.
  • Join us at New Brunswick’s first chapter meeting of the semester next Monday, February 6, at 1 p.m. via Zoom; click here to RSVP.
  • Come to a Housing Justice Town Hall on Wednesday, February 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the College Avenue Community Church, 100 College Ave.; click here to RSVP.

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

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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