We are proud Rutgers University alumni and proud supporters of unions and collective bargaining. Many of us are union members, shop stewards, union officers, and union staff.

We are concerned that our great state university and alma mater is engaged in adversarial negotiations with its faculty and staff unions and is no closer to a settlement of contracts than it was when many expired in July 2022.

This is antithetical to the mission and vision for our university. We are asking that you develop a plan to quickly negotiate satisfactory union contracts that keep pace with inflation, recognize the sacrifices made during the COVID pandemic, and end discrimination in terms of pay and benefits against part-time instructors and other contingent faculty and staff at our alma mater.

We do not want to see Rutgers University in a similar situation to the University of California, the New School, University of Illinois-Chicago, and other institutions of higher education, where poor labor relations, failure to expeditiously complete good faith negotiations, and misplaced economic priorities led to strikes and disruption.

Here are some of the issues we urge you to address immediately:

1) Part-Time Lecturers (PTLs) are not being paid at an equal rate with full-time faculty for teaching the same classes. Their pay per class leaves them far below a living wage for New Jersey, even if they teach a full-time course load. That is not acceptable. The principle of equal pay for equal work must be honored.

2) Graduate workers are also paid a sub-living wage, and because of the disruptions of the COVID pandemic, many find themselves at the end of their funding with no assurance they will be given sufficient support to complete their degrees. We are also disturbed to learn that they do not have consistent high-quality health care coverage. Both of these issues can be easily addressed and should be.

3) Staff consistently face understaffing and overwork across all campuses and departments, a lack of fair, permanent alternative work arrangement options, and no clear pathway to career advancement at Rutgers University, even with multiple Rutgers degrees. These issues can and should be addressed through good-faith negotiations at the bargaining table.

4) Half a year after receiving union proposals for a fair wage increase that acknowledges historically high inflation, the university provided its first wage offer—and the paltry proposed raise over a four-year contract would barely cover a single year of inflation at the rate of the past year. If the university recognizes that inflation increases the costs of facilities and athletics, surely there should be some appreciation that university employees need to have their salaries adjusted to cover the hardship of an increasing cost of living. In addition, what possible excuse is there for the university taking so long to address this central issue of negotiations?

We urge you to address these matters immediately. We stand ready and willing to assist the faculty, staff, and administration achieve a fair contract that is worthy of our great state university.