Dear Colleague,

Yesterday afternoon we returned to the negotiating table, and had an unproductive session marred by management posturing over who we choose to bring to the table as members of our bargaining team. Right from the beginning, management’s team objected to the presence of both adjunct instructors and graduate student employees coming in to negotiate together, despite an earlier agreement that we would spend the afternoon negotiating over both proposed contracts, and no earlier objections when we had representatives of both groups on our team in a single session.

After rejecting our adjunct salary proposal for parity between adjuncts and the NJIT University Lecturer minima for a three credit course, yesterday we proposed significant raises for adjuncts that would at least equate to equal pay with adjuncts at Rutgers University across the street. We refuse to accept their counter that NJIT adjuncts should be the lowest paid of all adjunct instructors at any public 4 year institution in the state of New Jersey.

We countered management’s refusal to offer healthcare to adjunct instructors, presented on wage demands for the graduate student and research employees, as well as a fair grievance procedure that guarantees due process for all of our members. They took our counters, and will respond to us in the coming weeks.

In order to show management’s team that we will not accept sub-par wage increases for all adjuncts, graduate student workers and research employees, we are calling on all of our members and supporters to stand with us outside of Fenster Hall over the lunch hour on Wednesday, November 8th.

Our last action outside of bargaining showed we were serious: this time around we want to show the administration that in order to secure a contract, they will have to deal fairly with us and raise up the wages and working conditions for the academic employees on campus who, according to their self-reported Institutional Profile from 2016, teach 42% of all course sections across campus.

Will you commit to joining your colleagues on November 8th to show the administration that graduate students, research employees and adjuncts all deserve fair wage increases, access to decent healthcare and an equitable union contract? RSVP to this message and let us know, so we can plan on bringing t-shirts and placards for everyone.

We’ll also be discussing the details at our upcoming October General Membership Meeting on Monday, October 30th at 4:30pm in Room 240 of the NJIT Campus Center. See you there!

Your Bargaining Team,
Susan Bristol, Adjunct Instructor, CoAD
Jeffrey Reaves, Adjunct Instructor, NCE
Subash Ray, Research Assistant, Biological Sciences
Patrick Nowlan, Executive Director, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Victoria Pacheco, Staff Associate, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Joe Richard, Lead Organizer, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, UCAN
Jacob Chaffin, Organizer, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, UCAN