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Greetings, 1. News: Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 10 - The Price of Wage Concessions2. News: Home News Tribune, Sept. 9 - Rutgers faculty agrees to defer raises, avoiding more cuts 3. URA at AFT NJ Conference: AFTNJ Endorses Gov. Corzine 4. Mon. 9/21: Communications Committee Meeting 5.Thurs, 9/24: Contract Committee Meeting 6. Sat. 9/26: Get On the Campaign Trail with AFT 7. Tues. 11/3 General Election: Vote By Mail 8. Mon. 11/9: URA-AFT Elections 9. H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Health, Our Contract and Benefits 10. Thurs. 9/17 Newark Campus Meeting This week, two more news articles about the faculty union agreement highlighted university management's unwillingness to deal fairly with URA-AFT and AFSCME staff units. 1. Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 10 - The Price of Wage Concessions ...While the agreement leaves Rutgers AAUP-AFT members largely unscathed, other unions including the Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT (URA-AFT) and two AFSCME locals representing university employees are still at the bargaining table and face more onerous cuts. The URA-AFT represents 1,900 administrative employees. Lucye Millerand, its president, said she has been negotiating with Rutgers for more than two months, since “at the very beginning of July we were unilaterally notified that [the university] was not planning to pay any of our raises beginning with that month’s first paycheck.” Read more at http://www.ura-aft.org/node/245 2. Home News Tribune, Sept. 9 - Rutgers faculty agrees to defer raises, avoiding more cuts ...URA-AFT President [Lucye] Millerand said her union has not reached a deal with officials because the university "wants relatively more in givebacks from our salary package than from the faculty." The URA has 2,500 fewer members than the AAUP, whose tenured faculty earn an average of $108,430 while its teaching and graduate assistants earn an average of $26,000 and part-time lecturers earn $6,500. The administrative staff average is $54,020, union documents show. "We are concerned about job security in this day and age," Millerand said. "We continue to see our members being laid off and we do not see proposals from management that give us really iron-clad protections." Millerand said there are no scheduled discussions between the union and the university, and their grievance claim will be settled by arbitration if the two sides do not reach a resolution. "We do not recognize that they have the right to hold back this money that was owed us," Millerand said about the salary freeze. "They never negotiated that prior to doing it." Read full article at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909090341 3. URA at AFT NJ Conference Gov. Corzine and URA-AFT Members  See pics at http://www.uraaft.org/091109aftnj URA-AFT president Lucye Millerand gave the AFT NJ federation endorsement of Governor Jon S. Corzine in his reelection bid Friday in East Brunswick. "Yes we can and yes we will," said Millerand as she called on AFT members and leaders representing 40,000 in New Jersey to take an active role in the campaign. Read more at http://www.ura-aft.org/node/247 4. Communications Committee Meeting Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 - 12:00 p.m. 88 College Ave., Center for Historical Analysis, New Brunswick. All members welcome. Bring your ideas, talents and questions. No experience necessary. RSVP to union@ura-aft.org if you can attend or teleconference into the meeting. 5. Contract Committee Meeting Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009 - 12 noon to 1 p.m. Douglass Campus Center, meeting room A We will be planning various research projects in support of our next contract. Please RSVP to kneal@rci.rutgers.edu if you can attend. All members are welcome. 6. Get On the Campaign Trail with AFT With locals at Rutgers, Middlesex County College, UMDNJ and Perth Amboy Teachers Federation, AFT has more than 10,000 members who live or work in Middlesex County. RSVP now to meet up with AFT members in Perth Amboy (exact location TBA) on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 26 at 9:30 am to join the campaign for Governor Corzine's reelection bid. We will be going out to talk to union members about the importance of this election for working families, union members and education in New Jersey. RSVP to union@ura-aft.org and so we can get you on our list or call Nat Bender at the URA-AFT office at 732-745-0300 for more information. There will likely be a car pool from New Brunswick that morning. 7. Vote By Mail The law recently changed, and now all voters can vote by mail. You do not need a reason to vote by mail, so make sure you request your ballot today. 1. Download a mail-in ballot application
from http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/form_pdf/application-for-vote-by-mail-ballot-072809.pdf(pdf) 8. URA-AFT Elections November 9, 2009 At the Membership Meeting on Monday, September 14, 2009 nominations were conducted for President, Executive Vice-President, Vice President-Camden Campus, Vice President-New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus, Vice President – Newark Campus, Treasurer, Secretary, Executive Board Member – Camden, Executive Board Member – Newark, Executive Board Member –Extension/Off-Campus,= and five Executive Board Members – New Brunswick/Piscataway. The elections committee is verifying the eligibility of all the candidates so an announcement and more information will be in the next newsletter. The elections will be held on Monday, November 9 with the polling booths open as indicated at http://www.uraaft.org/node/207 9. H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Health, Our Contract and Benefits The URA-AFT health and safety committee is working to make sure questions about our health, contract and benefits are taken into account in planning for the H1N1 influenza pandemic at Rutgers. Health and safety chair Joyce Sagi and president Lucye Millerand met with Rutgers management this week and presented pages of questions, shared concerns and recommendations on how to work with the union on planning. AAUP-AFT was represented in the meeting and Sagi has been in contact with other Rutgers locals to discuss our mutual concerns. "We will work to make sure Rutgers management will be responsive to our concerns and contractual obligations to our members," said Sagi. "This is about transparency and involving stakeholders in the planning process to protect students, staff and faculty." H1N1 preparation:
10. Newark Campus Meeting Thursday, 9/17, 12:30 PM-1:30 PM - Dana Library, Rm. 215, Newark. All members welcome to attend. Back to top |
