Talks resume as striking Rutgers faculty picket, shutting some classes

Three unions that represent 9,000 faculty members at Rutgers walked out on strike Monday after 10 months of negotiations with the university ended in a stalemate Sunday night, shutting down classes for the first time in the state university's 257-year history.

The unions are demanding new contracts that would address job security for the lowest-paid members of the teaching staff.

Several hundred union members carrying strike signs marched outside the New Brunswick campus Monday morning in a historic show of unity.

“Holloway, you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side,” chanted a line of protesting graduate student workers, adjuncts and full-time professors, referring to Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway. The union members marched outside the Voorhees Mall area on the College Avenue campus near downtown New Brunswick.

“We want to fill Voorhees Mall,” said Christine O’Connell, president of the 2,500-member administrative staff union, which she said is in negotiations about its priorities concerning career pathways, health and safety, and telework permanency.

As O'Connell spoke, striking employees chanted, “We want contracts now,” and “Together, unite, Rutgers on strike.”

The Rutgers website said that despite the strike, the university was "open and operating, and classes are proceeding on a normal schedule."

In an online message to students, Rutgers said that "many classes will continue to meet during the strike. We want students to continue to attend classes and to complete their academic assignments." It directs them to whatever learning management system their class uses or to consult with their instructor for information related to their specific classes.

Mediators from the Public Employment Relations Commission, or PERC, joined the negotiating groups Saturday, in what appeared to be a last-minute move from the Murphy administration, which has been mostly silent about its position other than an official statement saying that "the governor firmly believes the hardworking educators of Rutgers deserve a seat at the table."

Murphy 'not happy it's gotten to this point'

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday afternoon that the two bargaining groups were meeting in the Statehouse along with members of PERC and representatives from his administration and that he is “hopeful” that they can come to a resolution that meets both sides’ needs fairly, and “come to that resolution ASAP.”

When asked, the governor said he’s “not a fan of any solution that takes it out on the backs of the students” and that he’s “not happy it’s gotten to this point.”

Murphy also said his administration “enjoys very good relations” with both sides. He noted that his administration, as well as he personally, has been involved “in one form or another for months.”

“The very force and nature of our office in the room, basically with a 'lock the door and throw away the key' mentality, has a very significant potential to move the needle in the right direction, and that’s what we’re hoping for,” Murphy said.

Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Middlesex, issued a statement calling for bargaining to continue in good faith.

“It is deeply concerning that after working for months without a contract, the employees at Rutgers University felt that they had no other recourse but to go on strike to secure improved compensation for tenure-track faculty, equal pay for equal work by adjunct faculty, and a living wage for graduate students,” he said. “They all play a vital role in making Rutgers one of the nation’s top universities in a state where higher education makes invaluable contributions.”

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It is in “everyone’s best interests to forge an agreement that puts students first by supporting educational excellence at Rutgers for generations to come,” he said. Zwicker, a member of the Senate Higher Education Committee, is also the head of strategic relationships for the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.

Still far apart

Negotiations produced some movement in recent days, but the unions and management remain far apart on many core issues, Rutgers AAUP-AFT President Rebecca Givan said Sunday.The striking educators say they were also disappointed and angry at the perceived disrespect toward union negotiators by university management, shown by poor attendance at last-minute face-to-face meetings last week.“We intend for this new contract to be transformative, especially for our lowest-paid and most vulnerable members,” Givan said. “But our proposals to raise graduate workers and adjunct faculty up to a living wage and establish meaningful job security for adjuncts are exactly the ones that the administration has resisted most.”

Holloway said in a statement on the Rutgers website that the administration will do all it can so students' academic progress is not impeded by the strike. "To say that this is deeply disappointing would be an understatement, especially given that just two days ago, both sides agreed in good faith to the appointment of a mediator to help us reach agreements," Holloway said of the faculty's decision to strike.

"We will continue to negotiate, and I remain cautiously optimistic that we will quickly reach agreements with our employee unions," Holloway said.

More: Rutgers faculty unions set to strike Monday, shutting down classes in historic move

More: Rutgers athletics spends big — and builds big debt — to stay competitive in the Big Ten

At a 1 p.m. union rally during Monday's strike activities, a crowd of about 300 broke into song on the green in front of Murray Hall on College Avenue, singing "Solidarity forever" to the tune of "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah." Strollers, dogs and face-painted children joined the cheering protesters.

“For the first time in the 23 years that I have been here, I and my colleagues don’t feel alone,” said adjunct professor and union leader Amy Higer, addressing the crowd. “Only by mobilizing" and "staying unified” can we end income inequality, she said.

Rep. Frank Pallone, whose district includes Rutgers' New Brunswick, Livingston and Piscataway campuses, spoke at the rally. “I understand why you are on strike … there should be no separation between Rutgers and the community," Pallone told the crowd. He said he has spoken to Holloway and other elected representatives about meeting the unions' demands.

Some student support

Freshmen students Luis Sanchez and Kasuni Wick said they supported the decision to strike. Wick had a midterm slated for this week, and she said she would take it, but no lectures were scheduled.“I think the faculty should be getting the health care benefits and pay they need," Wick said. "I think it’s fair for them to be going on strike," though she added, "I am a little concerned about my education going forward — we have finals in a few weeks.”The students did not think the faculty should have waited a little longer — such as after finals — to strike. “If they strike after finals are over, Rutgers isn’t going to care,” Wick said.“It is comical how far gone this is,” Sanchez said. He said resources could be better allocated — such as not spending “exorbitantly” on athletics and the university’s football team. “Living wages for workers and affordable tuition should be what matters,” Sanchez said.

NorthJersey.com has written extensively over the past year about how the Rutgers athletics division, since joining the Big Ten Conference, has racked up annual operating deficits of more than $70 million and the university has provided loans to help cover the gap.

Rutgers libraries, computer labs remain open, some classes not canceled

The Rutgers site said that to avoid falling behind in coursework during the strike, "students should continue to complete their assignments to the best of their ability." It continued, "Every effort will be made to ensure that the strike does not affect our students’ progress toward graduation."

Rutgers said libraries will be open on each campus and library resources will continue to be available online, and that computer labs will remain open as well, but that students should check with their school or department for the status of specific computer labs.

A group of students majoring in mechanical and biomedical engineering also said they supported the faculty action because it boiled down to fair pay for their educators. There was not much of a respite from studying for them, because they were preparing for midterms occurring this week, they said. Some teachers notified them about canceled classes through the university's learning management system, but they also attended classes with a few faculty who were not participating in the strike.

Some 94% of faculty members belonging to three unions voted to authorize a strike last month, effectively warning the university that they were serious about carrying out their intentions after negotiations failed to produce substantive counterproposals addressing their core demands — to raise wages for graduate workers and secure longer contracts with benefits for part-time professors.

Holloway has indicated that he will seek a court order to stop the strike. The university "would have no choice" other than seeking legal methods to "ensure that any job action does not affect our students' academic progress," he said in a letter to students last week.

What the unions want

The core demands of two main Rutgers unions, the AAUP-AFT and the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, include equity-driven changes that would give part-time lecturers long-term and more predictable contracts, with salaries calculated based on those of full-time non-tenured faculty, as well as increased wages for graduate student workers.

Howard Swerdloff, secretary of the adjunct union and a lecturer in the writing program, said there are 26 other part-time lecturers, or adjuncts, in the program, and that all of the nearly 150 teachers in the department are not on a tenure track. "There was a tiny sliver of accommodation" on Friday, in which adjunct faculty working two consecutive years could have received a one-year contract, he said, but the union's goal is to have them on par with non-tenure-track full-timers, and the offer wasn't realistic, he said.

The unions also seek higher wages for the university's graduate workers, who often teach classes in exchange for stipends, which at Rutgers are still below those at other major universities in the tri-state area.

Focus on 'most vulnerable workforce'

"No one wants to have a strike as their first resort. Strikes are always a response to employers' unwillingness to address the demands of workers," said Donna Murch, a tenured assistant professor of history at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

"Our union campaign is focused on the most vulnerable workforce, where you have tenure-track faculty who are really fighting for graduate students and adjuncts to get living wages," Murch said. "And so it's another example of how out of touch the administration seems.

"They're not addressing our core demands and are trying to reduce this as simply a struggle over wage increases for everyone," Murch said. "But this is really a union struggle that is about equity and protecting the most vulnerable in the context of a global pandemic and surging cost of living."

Trenton Bureau reporter Katie Sobko contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers University strike 2023: Faculty pickets, shutting some classes