Rutgers University Faculty Strike Enters Fourth Day with Progress in Talks
On Thursday, the walkout by three Rutgers University unions representing 9,000 faculty members, including educators, clinicians, librarians, and researchers, entered its fourth day across all three campuses. Union leaders reported progress on economic demands related to pay raises and their pattern, but noted that negotiations with the university, aided by state mediators, were ongoing. However, non-economic demands,
such as extending parental leave for graduate student workers and professors from eight to twelve weeks, rent freezes on campus student housing, and forgiveness of outstanding fines and fees for students, still needed to be addressed. The leaders spoke on a daily public Zoom meeting livestreamed on YouTube from Governor Phil Murphy’s offices in Trenton on Wednesday and while not jubilant, expressed some optimism about the ongoing talks.
