Rutgers faculty union voting on whether to authorize a strike as negotiations lag

[Tango Two]

A Rutgers University union comprising nearly 5,000 full-time faculty and teaching assistants is moving closer to a strike for the first time in at least 15 years after a year of bargaining has failed to yield a new contract.


https://www.mycentraljersey.com/sto...n-voting-whether-authorize-strike/3091476002/

 

[srru86]

Star Leger on the topic

 

[retired711]

My guess is that the union members will vote to authorize a strike. But I think the union will think very hard before doing anything more than a one- or two-day walkout. The needed public support is just not there. , I also wonder whether profs who are not in the union -- and there are a substantial number of those -- would respect a call for any kind of walkout. BTW, the 1.5% offer seems like small potatoes compared with the 3% increases that other unions have gotten from Rutgers.

 

[Tango Two]

Rutgers union members vote to authorize leaders to call for a strike


A majority of Rutgers University faculty union members voted to authorize its leaders to use a strike as a bargaining tool in contract negotiations, union members said Tuesday.


https://www.mycentraljersey.com/sto...ion-leaders-call-strike-if-needed/3212087002/




Rutgers profs could now go on strike at any time

About 88 percent of union members, which includes 4,800 full-time professors and graduate workers, voted to authorize a strike, according the union.

https://www.nj.com/education/2019/03/rutgers-profs-could-now-go-on-strike-at-any-time.html

 

[retired711]

That 88% covers only those who are in the union. Not all faculty members are; it's not a closed shop. I doubt very much that a strike will happen any time soon, and it will probably be a one-day or two-day strike.

 

[Tango Two]

Rutgers faculty union members, preparing for possible strike, sign up for picket duty


While students at Rutgers University are focused on upcoming final exams and commencement, faculty union members are preparing for the possibility of a strike, which would be the first in the university's history.


https://www.mycentraljersey.com/sto...culty-union-plans-possible-strike/3334525002/

 

[retired711]

Rutgers faculty union members, preparing for possible strike, sign up for picket duty


While students at Rutgers University are focused on upcoming final exams and commencement, faculty union members are preparing for the possibility of a strike, which would be the first in the university's history.


https://www.mycentraljersey.com/sto...culty-union-plans-possible-strike/3334525002/

Yes, I got called to sign up for picket duty. Because I am retiring on July 1, I ignored the call. I would be very surprised if there is a strike this semester. The preparation for one is designed to get the Barchi administration to raise its stingy pay raise offer for faculty, which would get 1.5% annually while staff unions are getting 3%. The parties have also been bargaining non-economic issues, but I think that's pretty much over.

 

[retired711]

The AFT-AAUP, the faculty and grad student union, has just sent out a "final strike warning" with a repetition of its request that members sign up for picket duty. The only immediate actions are the scheduling for Monday of a "tele-townhall" for unionmembers and a plea for members to demonstrate at the Board of Governors meeting in Newark. I still find it hard to believe that the union will actually call a strike, but one never knows.

 

[retired711]

There is more talk of a strikeif the bargaining session on Monday (April 8) does not go well for the union. Let's see how many faculty actually abandon their students.

 

[srru86]

No Strike
NSL
No Rutgers strike: Faculty union reaches last-minute deal with university
That's good news all around. Of course the Union is going to claim victory. They need to justify the dues they collect from the members. We need to see the numbers to judge.

When the big "win" is equal pay for women, while that sounds good in a woke sort of way, wonder what it really means? Law and policy already make using gender as a compensation decider impermissible . The wage gap is real, both gender and diversity, but has a lot to do with older white male faculty that have built up high salaries with longevity.

 

[retired711]

No Strike
NSL
No Rutgers strike: Faculty union reaches last-minute deal with university
That's good news all around. Of course the Union is going to claim victory. They need to justify the dues they collect from the members. We need to see the numbers to judge.

When the big "win" is equal pay for women, while that sounds good in a woke sort of way, wonder what it really means? Law and policy already make using gender as a compensation decider impermissible . The wage gap is real, both gender and diversity, but has a lot to do with older white male faculty that have built up high salaries with longevity.

The economic package is comparable to that reached by the University with other unions.

 

[srru86]

Seems like reasonable settlement.

 

[retired711]

The Union president told the faculty today that 99% of members voted to ratify the new contract.

 

[T2Kplus10]

Seems like reasonable settlement.

Looks like the union lost, got little what they asked for.

 

[retired711]

Looks like the union lost, got little what they asked for.

The union got the same economic package everyone else, but also got some important concessions on ensuring equity among faculty and on not having a new computerized scheduling program imposed by fiat. The union calls it an historic settlement. I wouldn't go that far, and I think the deal could and should have been made months ago, but it's not a loss. If it were, the union would almost certainly not have gotten 99% to vote for approval.