NEW BRUNSWICK — It's business as usual at Rutgers University, as a contract agreement was reached with Rutgers AAUP-AFT.þþThe union, which represents nearly 5,000 full-time faculty and graduate employees at Rutgers, said in a statement Tuesday night the union and the university reached a ÿhistoric and unprecedented accomplishmentÿ contract agreement.þþRutgers confirmed an agreement was reached and said details would come in a joint statement on Wednesday.þþThe agreement came under the threat of the first faculty strike in the school's 253-year history. Both sides negotiated all day Monday and made enough progress for the union to hold off on a strike, but remained ÿstrike ready,ÿ according to union president Deepa Kumar.þAs part of the agreement, members will receive a raise of $3,642 retroactive to July 1, 2018, and a 3% across the board raise on July 1, 2019.þþÿWe made history today. For the first time in the union’s nearly 50-year history, we won equal pay for equal work for female faculty, faculty of color, and for faculty in the Newark and Camden campuses. We won significant pay raises for our lowest paid members, our graduate employees who will see their pay increase from $25,969 to $30,162 over the course of the contract,ÿ Kumar said in a statement announcing the agreement.þþThe agreement now must be ratified by members.þþContract talks have continued for over a year with the 20 various unions that represent Rutgers professors. Rutgers administrators said they had already reached agreements with several unions that provided employees 3% raises in each of the next three years and a 2.5% increase in the final year.
Source: NJ1015.com
