Rutgers faculty, students rally over union contract talks
NEW BRUNSWICK – Hundreds of faculty and students gathered at Voorhees Mall on the Rutgers University campus, and even more at the Rutgers campuses in Newark and Camden, on Tuesday to protest the lack of progress on contract talks with most of the Rutgers unions.
There are more than 20 unions at Rutgers that have worked without contracts since June 30.
"We are seeking to transform the academic workforce by ending contingency and increasing pay and job security for all instructors and professors, and to create job security, a path to advancement, and to be provided with health care," said Hank Kalet, an adjunct professor and AAUP-AFT union campus vice president for New Brunswick.
As of now, at least seven proposals from the union have had no response, according to union officials.
"What brings me here today is the appalling pay that the university gives to part-time lecturers," Anthropology professor David Hughes said.
"The profit number on those courses are huge and it is appalling to me that the administration should not want to pay them a fair living wage," Hughes continued.
"I'm a grad worker, I'm underpaid and overworked," Rutgers Graduate student Marisa Holmes said. "It's just unconscionable that the university has all this money that it could be putting into supporting grads and it's choosing instead to pay administrators who don't seem to care about this university."
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Another grad student, Shauria Oberoi, said that he came out to show his solidarity and demand fair wages.
A spokesperson for Rutgers University said, "We continue to negotiate in good faith and on a regular basis with Rutgers' unions. All mandatorily negotiable issues related to those employee contracts will be discussed at the negotiating table with the appropriate bargaining team representatives from the administration and the unions."
After speeches and shouts of "Fair contracts now!" activists marched to Winants Hall and walked in picket lines around the building. Some of them went to the Board of Governors meeting to express their displeasure.
Email: alewis@gannett.com
Alexander Lewis is an award-winning reporter and photojournalist whose work spans many topics. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Rutgers faculty, students rally over union contract talks
