Day four was a tougher haul. The heat had a draining effect on many of us, but we were out on the lines and we are committed to remaining out for as long as it takes to win the transformation we are demanding.
There are three unions on strike — AAUP-AFT, the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and BHSNJ-AFT. We are negotiating together. Fighting together.
Our demands:
Equal pay for equal work and job security for adjuncts like me;
A living wage and longer guaranteed funding for grad workers;
Recognition of grad fellows as workers who should be part of the union;
Job security for non-tenure-track professors;
Protections for academic freedom;
Control of schedules;
Wages that keep up with inflation;
An end to onerous fines on students and the practices of withholding class registration and transcripts and the sale of student debt to collection agencies;
A rent freeze on Rutgers-owned propertIes;
A community hardship fund;
Health care for all workers;
And numerous other changes in the way Rutgers operates.
Thursday featured numerous targeted pickets, which may have left the impression on College Ave that there were fewer people out. But we made joyful noise on Voorhees Mall and in front of Scott Hall, marched through the streets of the city to show solidarity with the community, marched on President Jonathan Holloway’s mansion in Piscataway, and on the homes of several members of the university Board of Governors.
Our pressure has had an effect. As our bargaining team has reported, the administration has been pushed significantly — by us and because of pressure for Gov. Phil Murphy. I’ve been critical of his public statements, but it’s clear he has contributed to at least some of the progress.
Make no mistake, however. We are winning this because we’ve out organized management, showed our commitment, and made the public case that we are engaged in a moral cause to bring equity to high ed, a message that is resonating beyond our campuses.
Bernie Sanders issued this video this week:
https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/1646307637389144064?s=46&t=DjSeiRfiqOhEKzWgfHc3uQ
And I’ve talked to state and National reporters, including small labor and lefty print and video sites
https://www.youtube.com/live/Gn2F-DEbrm0?feature=share
and a student TV station at James Madison in Virginia.
I’ll post more later today.
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