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Management at Rutgers University has drawn the ire of unions it has been negotiating with since spring over how they presented its salary proposal.
In a letter obtained by WHYY News, Abdel Kanan, Rutgers’ associate vice president and deputy general counsel, said the salary proposals, which have ranged from 6–10% depending on the union, “are not feasible in the economic times.”
Rutgers countered with a university-wide program it said would direct the largest salary increases to the lowest-earning employees. Under the proposal, employees earning $50,000 or less would receive a 3% raise. Those making more than $50,000 would get a 2.5% salary bump. Those earning more than $75,000 would earn a 2% raise. Employees making more than $100,000 would see a 1% pay increase.
Executive leadership, athletic department employees and those making more than $200,000 would not be eligible for an increase in the first year.
University spokeswoman Dory Devlin said in a statement that Rutgers faces “extraordinary budgetary pressures” but “understands the affordability challenges for our employees during these difficult economic times.”
“Just as the university worked to keep tuition increases to the lowest in recent years, we continue to negotiate in good faith to reach fair and fiscally responsible agreements with our unions while maintaining the university’s long-term financial sustainability,” she said.
But the Coalition of Rutgers Unions, which represents a combined 15,000 university workers across its campuses, said it was outraged over the counterproposal, adding that many members learned of it in the media and not directly from the university.
“If Rutgers management has decided to sidestep the bargaining table, canceling bargaining sessions and negotiating our salaries in public, then they are not bargaining in good faith,” the coalition said in a statement. “Rutgers has the money and we demand that Rutgers bargain with their unions in good faith.”
The unions have been working without a contract with Rutgers since the end of June. Management has tentatively agreed to expanded academic freedom protections with the school’s full-time faculty union, Rutgers American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers.
