Editor’s note: The leaderships of three Rutgers faculty unions on Sunday announced they had approved the contract agreements reached with the administration, clearing the way for the university’s labor battle to end. The full membership of each union is now expected to give final approval. Look for further coverage Monday.
Three unions have confirmed they’ve reached a possible deal with Rutgers University. After a historic strike and some intense negotiations, the unions confirmed they have reached potential agreements with Rutgers administrators. The unions — representing full-time faculty, adjunct professors, and medical faculty and researchers — said they will present the agreements to their board members for votes within 24 to 48 hours.
Bryan Sacks, bargaining committee chairman for the adjunct faculty, said, “The Adjuncts contract, in our opinion, contains historic gains for Rutgers adjuncts. We’ve made a tremendous amount of headway in salary provisions and job security, and we expect our board and members will likely see it that way, as well.”
The announcement comes after months of negotiations and an unprecedented walkout. Rutgers faculty launched a history-making strike against the university April 10, but paused the job action after five days when Gov. Phil Murphy brought negotiators to the table in Trenton and offered state funding to help make a deal.
Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin confirmed the university had reached “contract language that would become a Tentative Agreement upon the approval of the union’s Executive Council that would then be presented to the union membership for ratification.” She said it would also provide new compensation for medical school faculty.
