Over 10,000 employees of Rutgers University ratified an agreement in April with the understanding that we would receive our deferred raises starting on July 1, 2021. Despite signing on to this agreement, Senior Vice President for Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness Vivian Fernández and University Human Resources are claiming that they are unable to process these contractual pay increases on time on July 9, and that employees will have to wait until August before they see their raises.

We demand that Senior Vice President Fernández ensures that these raises are paid with the July 9th paychecks. We have participated in the work-sharing program, and many of us are still awaiting full payment from the state Department of Labor. We agreed to this program in good faith, and we demand that Rutgers keep its side of the agreement.

On top of all this, we are expected to report to offices and pay for parking starting in July.

If you want us to return to campus and pay for parking in July, then you need to pay our raises on time. We’ve been doing our job. Why won’t Vivian Fernández do hers? Pay our raises on time!