Updated at 2:02 p.m. ET May 8, 2023: Three Rutgers University unions – Rutgers AAUP-AFT, the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and AAUP-BHSNJ – which represent 9,000 workers, voted overwhelmingly May 8 to ratify a total of five tentative agreements with the school.

The contract ratification vote comes nearly a month after a historic five-day strike in mid-April—the first in Rutgers’ history.

The three unions say that some 93% of members who cast ballots voted yes to ratify the agreements.

“This vote is the culmination of months of intense efforts by so many people who walked the picket lines and organized with their colleagues,” said Rebecca Givan, president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT. “Because of this commitment by our members, we made major gains in these contracts, especially for the most vulnerable and lowest paid of the people we represent. We didn’t win everything we wanted. But what we did achieve is a testament to all of us, and we’re proud of it.”

“This overwhelmingly positive vote across all job categories shows how unified we were and are, and how much everyone gained as a result,” said Howie Swerdloff, an executive board member of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union. “We bargained together, walked the picket line together, and won together.”

Stay with NJBIZ for continued coverage of this story, including further details and remarks about the vote, coming this week.

Read the original story below, which ran in the May 8 issue of NJBIZ.

The recent settlement between Rutgers University and three faculty unions was the result of tense negotiations that stretched through most of April after months of fruitless talks. The impasse prompted intervention from the highest level of state government after an unprecedented strike put pickets in three cities. In the end, the process produced what one labor leader called a “transformative contract.”

The unions – Rutgers AAUP-AFT, the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and AAUP-BHSNJ, which represent some 9,000 workers – had been operating without a contract since last summer. They said they were fighting for fair terms for everyone, particularly the adjunct, graduate students, and part-time instructors who are among the most vulnerable and are not afforded the same compensation, benefits and security as full-time, tenured professors.

The failure of those negotiations finally came to a head as the three unions voted Easter Sunday to go on strike, beginning the next day, across Rutgers’ three campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden, for the first time in the school’s 257-year history.

That led Gov. Phil Murphy, who had just moved into his new office at the State House after several years of renovations, to call the two sides down to Trenton and help broker talks.

“I said to them privately what I’d say publicly, ‘I’m really not happy that it came to a strike. I’m really unhappy,’” Murphy told WNYC’s Nancy Solomon during a recent edition of the “Ask Governor Murphy” show, in response to a question about the strike. “But it’s complicated.”

The story played out along several different tracks, as negotiators from both sides hunkered down in Trenton with mediators and Murphy administration officials. Meanwhile, picket lines went up on campus, fueled by unseasonably warm April weather that added another dimension to the spirit and energy, akin to a music festival. Each night, the unions would gather on a call with members, giving updates on the talks in Trenton and from the picket lines.

The two sides traded barbs from Monday until shortly after midnight Saturday morning, April 15, as some good news – white smoke if you will – emerged from Trenton. The governor’s office announced that a framework agreement had been reached that would end the strike and resume classes the following Monday.

“After five days of intensive dialogue and negotiations in my office, I am pleased to share that the Rutgers University and union bargaining committees have come to an agreement,” said Murphy in a statement. “This fair and amicable conclusion respects the interests of many different stakeholders, upholds New Jersey’s values, and puts an end to a standoff that was disruptive to our educators and students alike.”

Some of the key provisions of the deal include:

• Salary increases across the board for full-time faculty and Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) counselors of at least 14% by July 1, 2025
• Non-tenured, full-time professors – who currently must be reappointed at the end of their contracts – becoming eligible for “presumptive renewal,” meaning they won’t have to reapply
• An 8% increase in per-credit salary rate for part-time lecturers over the four years of the contract, which Rutgers says will significantly strengthen job security
• A 9% increase of the minimum salary for postdoctoral fellows and associates over the same contract period
• Substantial enhancements in wages as well as a commitment to multi-university support for teaching assistants and graduate assistants
• Graduate students, in addition to receiving health care coverage and free tuition and fees, will have their 10-month salaries increased to $40,000 over the course of the contract
• The contracts will be retroactive to July 1, 2022, and provide substantial retroactive salary payments to covered employees

But that was not quite the end of the story. There were more details to work out after reaching that framework agreement. And as the two sides left Trenton and continued to negotiate, there were signs that the situation was again deteriorating.

The unions stressed that the strike was only suspended, and that if negotiations on these final details continued going in the wrong direction, they were again prepared to take action.

That reality began to collide with upcoming Rutgers Day festivities. As talks continued to crawl, the unions called for a show of solidarity during the event.

“We are 300 days without a contract as of today. The administration’s failure to complete tentative agreements with our unions is inexcusable, and we want as many of you as possible to join us this Saturday, April 29, at Rutgers Day in New Brunswick to send that message,” the unions wrote to members April 26. “WE are Rutgers – students, labor, and community united – and we want a fair contract now!”

Finally, a day before that planned demonstration, the unions issued a statement saying the bargaining teams had voted to recommend contract language to their elected representatives.

“The recommended language incorporates a tentative framework for negotiations reached during the unions’ five-day strike, during which bargaining was held in the State House in Trenton,” the unions said in that statement. “Further negotiations in the two weeks since resolved a host of issues that were left open. The framework represented major gains for those represented by the unions, especially the most vulnerable and lowest paid among them, who will receive significant salary increases and greater measures of job security, among other improvements.”

The stage was set once again for a dramatic Sunday vote, during which the unions’ leadership approved the agreements and recommended them to members for ratification. That process continued as this issue went to print, including with town halls and discussions with members who began casting ratification ballots, and runs until May 8 at 12:00 p.m.

“We are a democratic union, and our members will have the final say on whether these TAs are ratified,” the three unions said in an April 30 statement. “We’re proud of what we achieved by going on strike and joining together for the Rutgers we and our students deserve. We believe these are strong contracts that make numerous advances for our members. We didn’t win everything we asked for and deserve, but no labor contract ever does. We will continue fighting for a better Rutgers starting the day after we have a ratified contract.”

If approved by members, the four-year contract would run through the end of June 2026, inclusive of the one-year retroactive period back to July 2022.

“The agreement with the union leaders, which was approved by their Executive Council and still requires ratification from the broader union membership, provides substantial salary increases for full-time faculty, graduate assistants, teaching assistants, and others,” said Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway in a statement to the Rutgers community. “It provides new compensation programs for our medical school faculty and provides both salary increases and job security for our part-time lecturers, who will be referred to as ‘Lecturers’ upon ratification.

“Reaching this point today is a recognition that we all can come together and work through our differences for the good of the university,” Holloway added. “It is also a testament to the leadership of Gov. Murphy, who brought all sides together when progress had stalled.”

Murphy released a statement saying he was pleased that the framework agreement had led to a full agreement between the two sides.

“We brought all parties together earlier this month to engage in constructive dialogue and reach an agreement regarding matters such as compensation, benefits, and job security for both full- and part-time faculty members. Today’s contract agreement accomplishes all of those goals,” Murphy said. “As one of the nation’s leading universities, Rutgers has long been a source of pride for our state. Ensuring Rutgers faculty are respected and fairly compensated will result in a better educational experience for our students, educators, and staff. Furthermore, resolving these complex concerns through good faith negotiations is a testament that all sides can come together and work through their differences for the common good.”

The governor thanked Holloway, the union leaders, and faculty for their hard work and commitment in reaching the agreement.

“I am happy that we got them to the table, and we got resolution,” said Murphy as he recounted all of the events during his radio show last week. “Because, otherwise, the people who pay for that are the students and their families. And we could not allow that to happen.”

“Do you place the responsibility for it coming to a strike on the president of Rutgers?” Solomon pressed Murphy as the show was ending.

“I blame it on 10 months of no progress, period,” said Murphy.