It’s 15 months since the contract ended between the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the union representing graduate and post-doctoral students and adjunct instructors.
“We’ve had some tentative agreements on smaller items, but big items like wages, we’re still negotiating,” said Nicholas Harty, a teaching assistant and executive board member of the United Council of Academics, or UCAN, which represents NJIT’s teaching assistants and adjunct faculty. Union members say their biggest demands are for a wage raise and better health care.
During an on-campus protest last week, teaching assistant Nicholas Dubicki was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, a charge that was subsequently voided.
On the potential for a strike, Harty said, “None of us really want to strike. We want to … settle this contract quickly and basically get on with teaching and researching. But … if it becomes necessary, I think we’re prepared to do it.”
