AAUP-OSU Supports Rutgers Faculty Strike
- AAUP OSU
- Apr 13, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 10
AAUP-Ohio State stands in solidarity with the faculty strike at Rutgers University, the flagship university of New Jersey. This historic strike—unprecedented in the university’s 257 years—is the joint effort of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union (PTLFC), which represents part-time lecturers; the AAUP-AFT [American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers], representing full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and counselors; and the AAUP-BHSNJ [Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey], which represents faculty in the health and sciences departments.
Our Big Ten colleagues have been working without a contract since June. We believe the demands of these educators, issued after months of negotiations and concessions, are reasonable. They are striking for a contract that includes equitable pay, adequate support for graduate students, job security for all faculty, a $15 minimum wage for all university workers, an end to the practice of withholding student transcripts for fees owed, affordable university housing, and faculty control over teaching and research conditions. But the Rutgers administration has threatened legal injunction to force striking faculty back to work.
Our chapter condemns any retaliation, be it administrative, professional, or judicial, against any striking worker exercising their right to organize and advocate for better working conditions. As educators genuinely invested in the future of our students and communities, we affirm Rutgers faculty’s collective action to achieve an equitable and sustainable workplace for all colleagues.
Finally, we affirm the unity of interests between faculty and students. Instructors’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. As Rutgers AAUP-AFT wrote on April 12, students and community members have been active in supporting the strike, rejecting the divide-and-conquer tactics of the administration.
How you can help:
Please donate to the joint strike fund here.
Consider joining over 1,200 endorsers of this open letter calling on Rutgers University President Holloway to not seek an injunction against striking workers.
Find out more here.
Express your solidarity in every way possible. Rutgers faculty are showing us how to organize, unify, and resist the many crises in higher education today.
Executive Board, AAUP-Ohio State
References
Archie, A., & Hernandez, J. (2023, April 10). “Rutgers University faculty members are striking over a contract dispute.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/10/1168931155/rutgers-university-faculty-strike
FAQ. One Rutgers Faculty. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://onerutgersfaculty.org/faq/
Bargaining status at a glance. Last updated 4/10/23. (Nov 11, 2022). Rutgers AAUP-AFT. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://rutgersaaup.org/bargaining-status-at-a-glance/
Holloway, J. (2023, April 10). “First Update on Strike and Negotiations.” Office of the University President. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.rutgers.edu/president/first-update-on-strike-and negotiations
Rutgers could strike any time—Blowback over school president’s claim it would be unlawful. (2023, April 3). WNYC. New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.wnyc.org/story/rutgers-could-strike-any-time-blowback-over-school-presidents-claim it-would-be-unlawful/
The Right to Strike. (n.d.) National Labor Relations Board. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes
