Local 5094 Rutgers Bargaining Update, August 15, 2018

Bargaining Update for Rutgers University:

1. On Wednesday, August 15^th we met with management and made most of our non-economic and some economic bargaining proposals, including ones on work from home policy, tuition reimbursement/remission, paying for licensure, and adding titles to the eligibility list for seniority/bumping (management will get back to us on the job series titles)
2. We made a strong demand that Rutgers agree to our proposed language protecting HPAE negotiation unit employees’ jobs in the event of partnerships such as the current Rutgers/Barnabas Master Affiliation Agreement. Management claimed to be unfamiliar with the agreement and the process behind the partnership.
3. We gave them a strong no on their proposal to gut our layoff protections and skirt due process.
4. We pushed for the inclusion of researchers in seniority/bumping rights and debated the need to improve the working conditions of researchers in general.
5. Management made a proposal on dues and fees that included language making the union responsible for contributing to Rutgers’ legal defense in the event that they are sued for one of their mistakes.
6. We made a demand for joint bargaining involving all three HPAE Rutgers Locals over the implementation of the Workplace Democracy Enhancement Act, Paid Sick Leave Act, the Pay Equity Act, and Common Good Proposals.
7. In order to increase transparency and participation in negotiations by our members, we made a demand to alternate bargaining locations between the Newark campus and the New Brunswick campus. Management agreed.

Our next bargaining session dates and locations are September 13^th 9am-1pm (Newark campus) and September 28^th 9am-1pm (New Brunswick).

In Solidarity,

HPAE 5094 Negotiations Committee

Tom Murphy, Alexis Rean-Walker, Mendes Toussaint, Mary Doran, Justin O’Hea, Phil Wilson, Alicia Rivera, Ryan Novosielski, Claude Monken, Antoinette Johnson, Ana Delgado, Lisa Adams, Annette Werts & Beverly Fraietta