Rutgers: New Year, Same Story

We’d like to take a quick moment to wish our members a Happy New Year. And with the new year… we’ve received yet another self congratulatory email from Vivian Fernandez announcing wage increases for the non-union staff and the Teamsters.

However, the vast majority of Rutgers employees are still in negotiations through their unions and have not yet agreed on terms for a new contract with the University. For our three HPAE unions at Rutgers, management’s current economic proposals range from 1.1% and 1.25% and they continue to reject our proposals to establish parity with Rutgers Legacy employees on tuition remission and reduced parking fees.

Our members will ultimately have an opportunity to vote whether or not to accept an agreement, however, management’s current offer is unacceptable. We are confident a fair agreement can be reached, but it will take effort by all our members. We are working with the Coalition of Rutgers Unions and will be announcing plans for new mobilization activities soon to put pressure on President Barchi to settle on better terms.

Local 5089 has negotiations scheduled on January 14, Local 5094 is scheduled for January 23 and Local 5135 is scheduled for January 29.

In the meantime, don’t be fooled by management’s tactics. They’ve reached an agreement for a small portion of the entire workforce with one union and they’re flaunting it every opportunity they have in an effort to pressure us to settle for less. We know we are worth more and we deserve better than what Rutgers has offered so far.

January 9, 2015