Greetings,

We are disappointed to have to inform you that, at our most recent meeting with the Rutgers Administration, we were informed that they are not processing the July 1 raises for graduate student employees and full-time faculty. Unlike the promotion increases, which are in process, they have decided to do nothing to implement our contracted raises, either the regular salary or the merit increases for the full-time faculty. At the same time, they have not responded to our offer to delay the implementation of the salary increases for the full-time faculty but not for graduate student employees. Further complicating the situation, the draft of the state budget bill that was posted publicly on Saturday morning attached strings to the restoration of the budget for Rutgers related to the use of the federal stimulus money. These strings included a 3% cap on increases in tuition and fees as well as labor cost cutting which would directly impact our compensation.

We are continuing our efforts in Trenton to understand the intent of the budget language and to limit its impact. Stay tuned for an update on the situation in the next day or two. We may again need to call on you to push Trenton to loosen the strings.

Finally, for those in the School of Arts and Sciences, we expect the administration's decision about Step 1 of the grievance on the denial of 100% sabbaticals soon. In addition, the administration has agreed to our demand for negotiations over workload with a mid-July bargaining session likely.

Sincerely,

Lisa C. Klein
President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Adrienne Eaton
President-Elect, Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rudy Bell
Immediate Past President