HPAE Rowan University Negotiations Update – May 25, 2016

Earlier this month, our negotiation team for HPAE Local 5094 and Local 5089 returned to the table to resume negotiations with the State for a new contract at Rowan University.

To date, we have been attempting to negotiate a short-term contract extension in an effort to lock in a wage increase retroactive to October 2014 and address a limited set of issues. Prior to this recent session, the State’s negotiators informed us that a short-term deal was no longer on the table.

In turn, we presented Rowan with a broader package of proposals that included a four-year wage proposal retroactive to October 2014, elimination of parking fees, tuition waiver program, modified vacation and sick time benefits, improvements to compensation time and overtime language, more protections for seniority benefits, and several administrative proposals.

Our efforts over the past year have not gone to waste. We were able to agree that all tentative agreements signed during the process of the short term contract discussions have been reaffirmed without the need for further negotiations and will be applied to the entire contract once settled.

Our next two sessions are scheduled for June 3rd and June 9th. At that time, we expect to receive additional proposals from Rowan as well as counter proposals for our latest package. We will be scheduling our next membership meeting after the second session on June 9th, date to follow.