Rutgers and faculty unions agree on new contract language. Here's when a vote could happen
Union leaders representing faculty members at Rutgers agreed on new contract language Friday with the University administration for a possible deal, with a vote to approve the agreement likely to occur on Sunday.
That means the two sides, by approving language for a tentative contract, took the first step Friday to come to an agreement that would end 10 months of dragged out negotiations that resulted in a one-week faculty strike earlier this month that shut down nearly all classes on the state flagship university's three campuses.
However, the union's executive council must still review that language and vote to approve it Sunday, followed by a full vote by union members, before a final contract is reached.
"Earlier today, the bargaining committee of our union voted to recommend contract language that would become a tentative agreement with the approval of our union's executive council," Rebecca Givan, president of the AAUP-AFT said in a message sent to union members Friday.
"The executive council voted to read the language over the weekend and vote on Sunday whether to approve it as a TA and send it out to the membership for a ratification vote," Givan said.
The move came minutes before university professors passed a resolution to authorize a vote of no-confidence against Rutgers President Jonathan Hollaway if an agreement is not reached by end of day Tuesday, next week.
Faculty and Senate member Paul Boxer said at the meeting that they had put the resolution together to encourage Holloway to demonstrate leadership. The resolution calls for contract negotiations to end by Tuesday afternoon and for Holloway to provide updates on progress until then.
If there is no contract, the resolution would require university senators to vote on a no-confidence motion against Holloway the day before finals.
Union leaders highlighted economic and non-economic wins in the new contract in a message to members, noting that they won raises amounting to a nearly 44% increase across four years for tenured professors. Part-time lecturers will have access to two- and four-semester appointments, based on seniority; previously they had to extend their contracts every semester regardless of seniority. Non-economic gains included counting summer session courses and prior full-time work toward career advancement for adjunct lecturers, as well as binding arbitration to enforce the final contract.
The agreement, "if ratified by the union membership, would provide substantial salary increases for full-time faculty, graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and others," said Dory Devlin, spokesperson for Rutgers University. "It would also provide new compensation programs for our medical school faculty," she said in a statement Friday.
Final approval of a deal between the unions and the university was likely Sunday, faculty member Heather Pierce, who said she attended bargaining, told the Senate. That would make the resolution to hold a no-confidence vote moot, said Pierce, but still worthwhile because of the pressure it puts on Holloway to finish the deal.
Other supporters of the resolution said they were frustrated with the university and Holloway for taking months to come to an agreement.
The resolution was added to the monthly Senate meeting on Friday, but efforts to push the resolution to the top of the meeting agenda were quashed by a 67-40 vote in favor, but short of the two-thirds majority needed to do so.
The resolution put added pressure on Holloway and the Rutgers administration to finish negotiations before finals, grading and commencement in the last weeks of the spring semester. Holloway attended the Senate meeting and thanked some professors for their support during "a difficult and contentious year."
"The bargaining committee of the union has voted to recommend language for a tentative agreement, but it will be up to the leadership bodies to decide," said Alan Maass, a spokesman for the faculty unions. "There will be a lot of discussion on those bodies and then a vote," he said, referring to the process for the executive council to approve the language Sunday.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers unions agree on new contract wording. When a vote could happen
