Dear colleague,
Hello and welcome back to another semester. We hope you were able to rest and relax, because we have a contract battle ahead of us. After four months of bargaining, the administration hasn’t addressed our key demands; instead, they are creating obstacles to even meeting. To learn more about our contract campaign, go to the Contract 2022 Resource Center.
What we achieve at the bargaining table depends on all of us. Above all else, we ask that you commit yourself to getting involved this Fall: talking with your colleagues about the challenges we face, attending virtual and in-person events and actions, making your voice heard in our discussions. If you haven’t already, click here and fill out this form to get involved.
We’ll have more to tell you about our contract campaign in the coming days, but you can start planning your Union September now!
Welcome Back Get-Togethers and Chapter Meetings
Our union is planning some informal get-togethers and chapter meetings, both on or near campus and near where you live. You can attend any of these events you want to—whatever’s convenient:
- New Brunswick/Highland Park: Thursday, September 8, 7 p.m., at Pino’s, 13 N. 4th Ave. in Highland Park, click here to RSVP (indoor and outdoor options are available!)
- Brooklyn: Friday, September 16, 4 p.m., at the Gate, 321 5th Ave., in Park Slope, click here to RSVP
- Camden: Wednesday, September 21, 11:20 a.m., in-person chapter meeting on campus, location to be determined, click here to RSVP
- Newark: Thursday, September 22, time and location to be determined, click here if you’re interested
- Philadelphia: date, time and location to be determined, click here if you’re interested
Tell Gov. Murphy: Don’t Increase Our Health Care Costs
We learned last month that the state of New Jersey wants to make all workers on the state health plan, including Rutgers employees, pay 20 percent more for our health care, starting next January. This would amount to a pay cut! Call the Health Care Hotline TODAY at 833-479-1993 and tell the governor: don’t increase state workers’ health care contributions. Then join thousands of state workers in Trenton on Tuesday, September 13, at 12 p.m. for a mass union rally at the Statehouse Annex. Click here to let us know if you can come to Trenton or are interested in taking other action.
Town Hall Meetings: #RutgersHasTheMoney
Rutgers is in its strongest financial shape ever, so don’t believe the administration when they tell you they can’t afford what we’re asking for. Join us for a virtual presentations by Howard Bunsis, an expert on higher ed finances, on Friday, September 16, at 12 p.m. or Monday, September 19, at 5 p.m. Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link to either meeting.
Mobilize for President Holloway’s State of the University Address
President Holloway will give his State of the University address at the first University Senate meeting of the year on Friday, September 23, at 12 p.m. at Alexander Library in New Brunswick. We’re working with our sibling unions to send OUR message about the State of the University—and our vision for a people-centered Rutgers that all of us deserve. Click here and fill out the form if you want to get involved in planning and mobilizing for this in-person action.
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
See the updates from each bargaining session.
Read about the proposals we’re putting forward in bargaining.
Find the latest messages to members and union statements here.
Read our FAQ: Know Your Contract, Know Your Rights!