• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers AAUP-AFT: 50th Anniversary

  • Contract Campaign
    • What We R Fighting For
    • 2023 Strike FAQ
    • Strike FAQ for Students
    • Bargaining Status at a Glance
    • Contract Resource Center
    • Opening Bargaining Proposals
    • Bargaining Updates
    • From the Table Updates
  • Who We Are
    • Our History
      • Our Union’s Timeline
      • The Living History of Our Union
      • Our Logo: The Story of the Pencil-Fist
    • Full-Time Faculty
      • Know Your Contract
    • Part-Time Lecturers
    • Grad Workers
      • Know Your Contract
    • Postdoctoral Associates
    • EOF Counselors
    • Winter-Summer Instructors
    • Retiree Assembly
    • Rutgers One
  • Know Your Union
    • Rutgers AAUP-AFT Officers
    • Executive Council
    • TA/GA Steering Committee
    • Chapter Leaders
    • Negotiating Committee
    • PTLFC Executive Board
    • Working Groups
      • Rutgers Grads United
      • International Students Working Group
    • Union Staff
  • Resources
    • Know Your Contract
    • Text of the Current Contract
    • Health and Safety FAQ
    • Salary Equity Program
    • Postdoc Merger Campaign FAQ
    • Reproductive Justice FAQ
    • Remote Instruction FAQ
    • OPRA Document Center
    • Promotion-Tenure Webinar Slides (2021)
    • Union Bylaws
    • Dues Charts
    • Student Scholarships
    • Student Paid Internships
  • News
    • Bargaining Updates
    • Member News
    • Media Statements
    • Statements and Resolutions
    • RU Listening Podcast
    • By Our Members
    • Member Spotlight
  • Get Involved
    • Sign Up to Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • Freedom School
    • Committee on Political Education
    • Working Groups
      • Rutgers Grads United
      • International Students Working Group
  • Join Us!
    • Join Our Union
    • Become a Fellows Member
    • Why Join?
    • Dues Charts

VICTORY! Postdocs Ratify a Strong New Contract

June 16, 2021

Dear colleague,

We’re proud to announce that postdoctoral associates finally have a new contract. We won important gains in this agreement, especially for the lowest-paid postdocs, and we will go into bargaining for our next contract united with the rest of Rutgers AAUP-AFT. Stronger together!

Here are some of the highlights of the new contract, which was ratified unanimously by a majority of postdoc members:

  • A significant increase in the minimum postdoc salary to $50,000 starting on July 1, 2021 (up from the current $42,552). All other eligible postdocs will receive a raise of $1,400, or the funding source increase in each year, whichever is greater. These raises will also be effective on July 1, 2021.
  • For eligible postdocs who did not receive a raise on July 1, 2019, or July 1, 2020, there will be a retroactive payment of $1,275 for each year. Postdocs who are leaving Rutgers soon but are still employed as of the date of ratification yesterday will receive these retroactive payments in full.
  • The newly negotiated contract terms also make clear that postdocs can receive salaries above the minimum and raises above those negotiated.

The new contract expires on June 30, 2022, so we will be bargaining for our next contract as part of the Coalition of Rutgers Unions, along with all faculty, all graduate workers, and nearly all university staff. This will significantly increase our bargaining power. Instead of 600 postdocs bargaining for one contract, as we have for the past two years, we will be part of a coalition bargaining for nearly 20,000 workers and a dozen contracts.

We also have an agreement with management to continue bargaining for union membership for those RBHS postdocs who are not yet represented by our union. Negotiations on this issue will resume immediately.

We need to win more in the future. We are eager to get to work unionizing RBHS postdocs, securing better support for international scholars, further increasing the minimum postdoc salary so we get closer to a living wage, and other items that current postdocs and other bargaining units will bring to our attention.

We want to thank colleagues from other Rutgers unions for their support during this battle. Management didn’t want to agree to our just demands, but thanks to the power of our union, we spoke not with our voices alone but all of yours, too. Our victory is your victory.

In solidarity,
Todd E. Vachon, School of Management and Labor Relations
Althea Pestine-Stevens, School of Social Work
Andrés Morera, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @ruaaup
Freedom School YouTubeChannel: https://rutgersaaup.org/YouTube
Union merch is available at our web store.
Find the latest messages to members and union statements here.

Related

Category: Member News
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Mail

Copyright © 2023 · Rutgers AAUP-AFT · 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1113 · (732) 964-1000 · aaup@rutgersaaup.org · Login · Return to top