The Rutgers University teachers strike is one step away from formally being over after leaders of the three Rutgers unions approved a tentative agreement with the school Sunday evening.
Elected officials from the three unions — Rutgers AAUP-AFT, the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union and the AAUP-BHSNJ — approved the agreement and recommend that their 9,000 members ratify it after nearly a year of negotiations, according to the unions.
Member approval, which is expected, is the final step to end a more than yearlong struggle that led to a weeklong strike earlier in April.
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, in a note to the Rutgers community, said the agreements provide substantial salary increases for full-time faculty, graduate assistants, teaching assistants and others. It provides new compensation programs for medical school faculty and provides both salary increases and job security for part-time lecturers, who will be referred to as “Lecturers” upon ratification, Holloway said.
If ratified, the contracts’ provisions would be retroactive. Eligible employees covered by these agreements, will receive payment of retroactive pay increases dating back to July 1, 2022, soon after the contracts are ratified.
“Reaching this point today is a recognition that we all can come together and work through our differences for the good of the university,” Holloway said. “It is also a testament to the leadership of Gov. (Phil) Murphy, who brought all sides together when progress had stalled.”
