Rutgers University faculty go on historic strike
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Students at Rutgers University are getting an unscheduled lesson Monday morning in labor relations as their professors went on strike for the first time in the school's 257-year history.
Rutgers University-Camden is one of three campuses where students and staff members will join the picket line Monday morning. Rutgers' Newark and New Brunswick campuses also are striking.
Three different unions are uniting to go on strike Monday morning. They represent about 9,000 Rutgers staff members, including full-time faculty, graduate workers and part-time lecturers.
Union representatives say they're demanding salary increases, better job security for adjunct faculty and guaranteed funding for grad students, among other requests.
Negotiations between the union and Rutgers have been ongoing for nearly a year, but the two sides have yet to reach a deal.
Rutgers' president claims the two sides have made significant progress in recent weeks, but union representatives dispute that. They say the university has refused to meet their main demands, which is why they voted to go on strike.
"Students that are out there in support, please talk about why we're out there. Understand that our solidarity is our power," Rebecca Givan, president of Rutgers Rutgers AAUP-AFT, said. "We want to transform Rutgers, the place it can be and should be and we know that by standing together, we will succeed."
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) said his strategy for bringing together representatives from both sides of the strike is simple.
"Everybody's going to get into a room," Gov. Murphy said. "We'll do a version of locking the door and throwing the key away until we come up with a solution here."
He said his office has been involved in negotiations for months, but he's frustrated an agreement hasn't been reached yet.
"I'm not happy it's gotten to this point. I said this to them, both sides. I am happy that we're able to get in a room together," Gov. Murphy said. "We need to get a resolution here. If we don't get a resolution, there are many losers including the many, many thousands of students who go to Rutgers."
Gov. Murphy said he would not be happy if tuition hikes are used to pay for the unions' demands.
English professor and protest organizer Jim Brown says it's up to the university administrators to end the strike.
"I don't know if it'll be settled quickly. I think that's mostly up to management," Brown said. "That's up to President [Jonathan] Holloway. This has been going on for 10 months so when people start talking about deadlines, it's hard for us to hear that. We've been bargaining since May. We've been trying to get this done for a very long time. We've been working very hard and this is where we are because the university has pushed us to this point."
Holloway said in a statement that he's disappointed a strike has been authorized after what he described as "significant progress" in negotiations that he claims includes a 12% salary bump for all full-time faculty by July 2025.
The strike scheduled began at 9 a.m. Monday.
Rutgers officials insist classes will continue, so they're urging students to continue to attend and complete assignments. But union leaders expect the strike will halt all instruction and non-critical research.
