Join Us at These Upcoming Union Events
- Camden Matters: Fighting for Reparations and Racial Equity: Monday, February 21, 7 p.m. Click here to RSVP
- What R We Fighting For? Contract Campaign Town Hall: Monday, February 28, 6 p.m. Click here to RSVP
Dear colleague,
Your Raise Is Coming in March: Eleven months ago, we negotiated an agreement that won back the raises the administration tried to cancel when it declared a “fiscal emergency” in June 2020. The first canceled raises finally appeared in your paychecks last August (after a further management blunder in processing the increases on time). The second set of raises—a 2.5 percent across-the-board increase—are due to be paid at the start of March. The raises won’t be retroactive, but we did hold management accountable to pay them. We’ve been assured by a top administrator that there will be no delays this time.
Check your pay stub the first week of March to make sure the increase was calculated correctly. Email us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org if you have any questions.
New Source for Free COVID Tests: If you are enrolled in the state health plan, you can now order COVID tests at no cost through the OptumRx online store. As we wrote last month, our health insurance is covering the cost of up to eight in-home COVID tests per covered individual per month for everyone who has OptumRx prescription coverage.
You can now order tests through the Optum store. Go to optumrx.com and sign in using your Health Safe ID. Once you sign in, you’ll see an option to “Get at-home COVID-19 test with $0 copay.” Click “Order Now” and follow the instructions.
You have three other options for getting at-home COVID test kits at no cost:
- Present your OptumRx at a Rite Aid Pharmacy (including Bartell Drugs), Sam’s Club, or Walmart Pharmacy (OptumRx considers these participating in-network providers) and ask to have the test kits submitted for coverage to your plan.
- Purchase a kit elsewhere and submit an online form (available here) for reimbursement. Be sure to save your receipt; you will have to upload it when you fill out the form. OptumRx will cover up to $12 per test.
- Purchase a kit and mail in a paper reimbursement form. Click here for a form to print out.
Important Union Meetings Coming Up: We have two town hall meetings this month that will be critical for our campaign to win our next contract.
On Monday, February 21, at 7 p.m., join us at the first Freedom School of the semester on “Camden Matters: The Fight for Reparation and Racial Equity” (click here to RSVP). Our union’s commitment to equity, dignity, and racial justice demands that we stand with our students and colleagues on the perennially underfunded Rutgers-Camden campus. Find out how we can fight to get Camden the funding and resources it deserves.
On Monday, February 28, at 6 p.m., come to the “What Are We Fighting For? Contract Campaign Town Hall” (click here to RSVP). We need to hear from as many of you as possible to decide on the demands that are most important to us and prepare to fight for them when we bargain a new contract with the administration. Make your voice heard at this important meeting.
In solidarity,
Becky and Todd
Rebecca Givan, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Todd Wolfson, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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