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Greetings,
The Executive Council of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT recommends that
union members vote to support the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)
and a separate Letter of Agreement (LOA) by returning
the ballot to the union office by 4:00 pm on Friday,
September 4, 2009. You
should receive the ballot and other supporting documents in
the regular mail at the home address we have on file for you
within the next few days.
These new
agreements alter the salary provisions contained in Article VIII
of the negotiated contract and secure the University
administration's agreement not to pursue proposed changes to
sabbaticals, teaching loads, or research funding. There will be
no layoffs or unpaid furloughs for faculty members. Also
important, compensation for TAs, GAs, and PTLs will not be
effected by the MOA or LOA.
Given the unprecedented
severity of the global financial crisis and the political
demands of the State of New Jersey, we believe we have
negotiated a creative solution that will generate savings, have
a minimal effect on programs and yet preserve our base salaries.
Upon your endorsement, we will agree to salary increase delays
combined with the favorable resolution of outstanding disputes
over sabbaticals, teaching loads, and research
funds.
The tentative MOA and LOA are summarized as
follows:
At the end of the contract period, June 30,
2011, faculty base salaries will have increased to the exact
amount as agreed to in the 2007-11 contract. The
implementation of the increases to salary base, however, will be
delayed. There will be no retroactivity on the delayed
increases. Salary delays allow for short-term personnel-related
cost savings while having no long-term effects on the faculty
base salaries.
The July 1, 2009
salary increase of 5.5% will be delayed in the following manner:
2.75% will be paid to every unit member on January 1, 2010 as a
regular increase (formerly ATB), and the other 2.75% will be
paid as enhanced increases (formerly FASIP) on July 1,
2010.
The July 1, 2010 salary increase of 5.5% will
also be delayed in two equal parts. 2.75% of the July 1 increase
will be delayed for six months to January 1, 2011 and would be
split between regular increases (1.375%) and enhanced
increases (1.375%). The other 2.75% will be delayed until June
30, 2011 and would also be split between regular increases
(1.375%) and enhanced increases (1.375%).
In the
LOA, the University administration will agree to rescind
across-the-board increases in teaching loads and
across-the-board denials of 100% sabbaticals. The LOA will also
restore to 2008-09 levels any faculty research funds that were
decreased due to financial exigencies.
In addition,
an outstanding grievance regarding uncompensated work for
half-TAs was finally and fairly settled. In a separate
communication from the administration to AAUP-AFT President
Adrienne Eaton, EVP Furmanski also agreed not to make broad
changes in faculty summer pay and calendar year appointments due
to financial exigencies.
All members
should read the agreements. Click the link to view
the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the Letter of
Agreement (LOA): http://rutgersaaup.org/MOA_LOA_2009.html.
Hard copies of these two documents will arrive in the
ballot packet sent to member home addresses.
Our support
for the MOA and LOA is based primarily on political
considerations. While our members here at Rutgers, and the
national AFT, lobbied intensively to restore the funds cut in the state
budget, that restoration came with "strings attached" in the
form of a mandate that Rutgers realize substantial personnel
cost savings and cap tuition increases at
3%. The MOA
represents the faculty’s contribution to satisfy the
demands of the state budget and allow the cuts to be
restored.
While our support for the new agreements
is a clear sign of commitment and dedication to Rutgers University, it should not be construed
as support for the budget priorities or management style of the
Rutgers administration. We are deeply critical
of the time, attention, and resources spent on projects and
personnel peripheral to the academic mission.
There
is a troubling unwillingness on behalf of the Rutgers administration to provide
information on budgetary matters. The union has been denied access to the
information necessary to prove that the budget situation is as
the administration claims or that savings will be wisely
spent. As an
initial step toward a remedy, the MOA establishes a new
University Committee on Budget and Finance, including union
representatives, which will be chaired by the University
President. It will monitor any federal stimulus funds received
by the university and the use of savings that are a product of
this agreement.
We regret that
divide-and-conquer tactics aimed at the faculty and staff have
delayed progress toward an agreement, but we have worked very
hard to make the best of a bad situation--and so have you.
Hundreds of you have answered multiple calls for sending emails,
writing letters, signing petitions, making phone calls--many
becoming full members to strengthen our voice. We are deeply
grateful.
As of this writing, our fellow unions at
Rutgers have yet to reach an
agreement with the administration. We continue to give them our unqualified
support and urge the administration to agree to protect jobs and
base salaries.
Please join us in voting yes to
accept the measures contained in the MOA and LOA.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Eaton
President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, on behalf the
Executive Council of the AAUP Chapters
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