Union of Rutgers AdministratorsStaff members are part of our community and they deserve to be treated with the same consideration and respect as students and faculty. Their lives are just as important as our own. Please sign this petition to stand in solidarity with staff workers at Rutgers and make it known that RU’s display of negligence towards the health of staff is unacceptable.
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On this 100th Anniversary of Paul Robeson’s graduation from Rutgers College in 1919, the Union of Rutgers Administrators (URA-AFT) expresses our gratitude to Paul Robeson for his labor activism and leadership in the international struggle for worker rights. We honor his legacy by continued activism and mutual support among all unions and student groups in the Rutgers community devoted to social justice.
A brief history:
Paul Robeson (1898 to 1976) began his labor-related activism at the age of 37 starring in union-based plays and films. He would go on to sing at union rallies and march on picket lines during the height of McCarthyism: United Auto Workers in Detroit (1941), Labor Victory Rally at Yankee Stadium (1942), Madison Square Garden Rally for Fair Employment Practices (1945), Waterfront Strikers in San Francisco (1946), Food and Tobacco Workers in North Carolina (1947), and United Public Workers in Washington, D.C. (1949). In 1950, he helped found the National Negro Labor Council, supporting black workers striking throughout the country.
An actor and singer of international renown, Paul Robeson faced severe retaliation for his labor organizing. In 1949, he gave a now-famous speech in Paris, where he spoke out against a possible war with the Soviet Union. The press labeled him a traitor and, in 1950, the U.S. Government revoked his passport.
“From 1949, the FBI put pressure on concert halls to not allow him to sing,” his granddaughter told BBC News in 2014. “No recording company would issue a contract and he disappeared from the radio.” His name was stricken from the college All-American football teams and news footage of him was destroyed. His income dwindled from over $100,000 in 1947 to $6,000 in 1952.
The efforts to silence him failed. Threatened by the State Department with possible imprisonment in 1952, he sang by telephone to union workers in Vancouver; he then sang to an crowd of 40,000 at the U.S.-Canadian border. In 1956, he appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and told them: “You are the Un-Americans.” He continued his activism and humanitarian efforts throughout his life, a testament to all people devoted to social justice, worker rights, world peace, and international solidarity.
“There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers. [The] artist, the scientist, the writer is challenged. The struggle invades the formerly cloistered halls of our universities […] The battlefront is everywhere.”
— Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1988)
By Kathryn Neal
Sources:
Philip S. Foner, ed., Paul Robeson Speaks: Writings, Speeches, and Interviews, a Centennial Celebration (1978)
Dr. Mark D. Naison, Fordham University; “Americans Through Their Labor”; http://richgibson.com/paulrobeson.htm
Paul Robeson: Internationally Acclaimed Performer, Champion of the People, American Postal Worker Magazine; http://www.apwu.org/labor-history-articles/paul-robeson-internationally-acclaimed-performer-champion-people
The U.S. Supreme Court just punched us in the gut. Just when URA – and 17,000 other Rutgers workers are negotiating for new contracts, the Supreme Court decided today to abolish the 40-year old system of “fair-share” fees, in a case called Janus v. AFSCME.
From now on, as a union member, you’ll be covering the cost of maintaining a strong union… but your co-workers who are not full members can ride for free.
What will they get for free?
Bargaining with an employer like Rutgers is difficult enough. With the Janus decision now in play, do not think twice about maintaining your membership with URA-AFT—it is THE thing ensuring that your stable union job will continue to exist as you enjoy it. Less memberships means less bargaining strength for proposals that we want and need. Your co-workers on the URA bargaining team put countless hours of concern, thought and effort into our proposals based on our collective experiences and your feedback. There are always gains to be made. But Rutgers is proposing cuts to our benefits and will win more cuts if we are not unified and working TOGETHER AS MEMBERS. We have faced similar threats before. Remember when Rutgers froze wages? We weathered those storms (and even Hurricane Sandy) TOGETHER. As members we decided to help our brothers and sisters after Sandy. We set up a union-funded vision care program to offset medical costs when Rutgers did not. We need to solidify and protect our “seat at the table”.
From the Better Choices Budget Coalition:
Legislators have massively let down working families across the state. They voted to continue Chris Christie austerity’s gimmicks and balance a budget on the backs of working families.
One can only wonder why Democrats would opt to protect millionaires while cutting an additional $75M from public transportation, $95M cut from Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, or even eliminating the long overdue increases in gun licensing fees. One thing is for certain, regardless of whether it was driven by malicious desire or misinformation, the reality is that they failed us!
A founding member of the Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT union at Rutgers University, Carolyn Foote died Sunday, June 3, 2018, in Newark, New Jersey. Hundreds of family members, colleagues from Rutgers, the union and community gathered the following Friday to celebrate the impact of her too brief 67 years.
Family members told stories about her role as a matriarch and positive influence on their lives. URA-AFT Executive Vice President Darlene Smith talked about her travels with Foote to union conferences and conventions.
From the Better Choices Budget Coalition:
Legislators have massively let down working families across the state. They voted to continue Chris Christie austerity’s gimmicks and balance a budget on the backs of working families.
One can only wonder why Democrats would opt to protect millionaires while cutting an additional $75M from public transportation, $95M cut from Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, or even eliminating the long overdue increases in gun licensing fees. One thing is for certain, regardless of whether it was driven by malicious desire or misinformation, the reality is that they failed us!
A founding member of the Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT union at Rutgers University, Carolyn Foote died Sunday, June 3, 2018, in Newark, New Jersey. Hundreds of family members, colleagues from Rutgers, the union and community gathered the following Friday to celebrate the impact of her too brief 67 years.
Family members told stories about her role as a matriarch and positive influence on their lives. URA-AFT Executive Vice President Darlene Smith talked about her travels with Foote to union conferences and conventions.
Foote worked at Rutgers University-Newark in the John Cotton Dana Library for 30 years, the majority of that time as a Library Associate assigned to the Inter-Library Loan Department, identifying, locating and retrieving works for research projects.
Union members will always remember Foote’s friendship and collaboration with Dorothy Grauer, with whom she shared an office for the entirety of her 30 years at Rutgers. Foote and Grauer would finish one another’s sentences and laugh, making references to one another’s family members and colleagues from throughout the campus and broader Newark community. They often traveled together around campus or to meetings in New Brunswick.
The two joined the organizing effort on campus in 2006 and once URA was recognized, steadfastly assumed (sometimes alternating) roles as lead stewards, campus vice presidents and executive board members of their local, as well as delegates to their state and national unions.
Foote led in a quiet, dignified manner. She was not a big talker in meetings, not someone who sought the spotlight or spent time promoting her own achievements.
Since the union’s recognition in 2007, Foote handled many grievances on the Newark campus, according to union director Greg Rusciano. He said that local members will miss having her as a dependable, capable, staunch advocate. Fortunately, the campus enjoys a strong steward structure and one former steward even remarked that she would have to get back to steward duties to try to fill some of the gap of Foote’s absence.
Foote volunteered for many of the union’s political activities, including phone banks and home visits during political campaigns to elect the nation’s first African-American President, and progressive candidates like New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Foote represented the union in delegations to Occupy Wall Street to demand economic justice in the movement that declared: “We are the 99%” and decried the excesses of Wall Street millionaires and billionaires.
She lead the union’s Civil Rights Committee participating in protests and rallies calling for justice for murdered African-American teen Trayvon Martin, a “million-person march against police brutality” in Newark with the People’s Organization for Progress the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March in Washington DC for jobs, peace and freedom.
See Carolyn Foote Obituary >>
Old Queens can find the money for new VP’s, Chancellors, Associate VP’s, Associate Chancellors and the endless parade of head coaches. So they can find the money for fair pay for faculty, students and staff.
Old Queens can find the time for promotional videos and photo-shoots. So they can find the time to bargain with 20,000 unionized Rutgers workers.
Should be simple. But it’s not.
Join the Rutgers Union Coalition and United Students Against Sweatshops outside Brower Commons on Friday, February 23.
$15 minimum wage for ALL campus employees.
Health insurance coverage for ALL campus employees.
Joint negotiations on salaries and health insurance for ALL unions.
Let’s not wait till our contracts expire.
Lucye Millerand
President
Please look for the Cornerstone Survey in your Rutgers e-mail that was sent on 1/12/18. It was sent via Survey Monkey on behalf of URA President Lucye Millerand “lmillerand@ura-aft.org”. Management needs to know what our members think. We are getting great feedback and comments so far. Thank you to everyone who is participating!
The URA-AFT has signed on as a sponsor of the Women’s March on New Jersey 2018 in Morristown. The march will be held on Saturday, January 20th from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Morristown Town Hall, 200 South Street, Morristown, NJ.
This is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women since last year’s historic demonstration of resistance through sister marches across the country. Since that time women have run for office in record numbers, organized, told their stories, listened, and voted. This is the opportunity to again mobilize women across New Jersey continue working towards equity and justice.
5:30 pm, Monday January 22, 2018
Room 133, Labor Education Center, 50 Labor Center Way, Douglass Campus — click here for directions and more information
Agenda Items:
2018 Contract: What do we want? How do we get it?
Join the Women’s March on NJ 2018 this Saturday, Jan. 20th
January 20 @ 11:00 am – 1:00 pm EST
Morristown Town Hall, Morristown, NJ
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URA-AFT General Membership Meeting
January 22 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm EST
Rm. 133, Labor Education Center, Cook Campus
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URA-AFT Workshop: Understanding the Reclassification Process 101
January 31 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
Room 4052 West Wing, Rutgers Academic Building-CAC
The URA is working with the Division of Pensions and Benefits on recent changes that were made to the prescription plan.
If you are a signed URA member and are interested in attending any of the LEARN programs please contact the URA office at 732–745‑0300 or union@ura-aft.org for scholarship information. LEARN runs certificate programs in Public Sector Labor Relations; Negotiation, Arbitration & Conflict Resolution; and Workplace Investigations. Classes meet NJ Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements (6 hours) and are eligible for Continuing Education Units (0.5 CEUs). Each class is $270.00 and are held during the day, from 9am-4pm at the Labor Education Center, Rutgers University, 50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Union Plus Scholarships for Union Members and Their Children | Union Plus
This is a great benefit available to our full dues members:
Eligibility
Current and retired members of participating unions, their spouses and their dependent children (as defined by IRS regulations). At least one year of continuous union membership by the applicant, applicant’s spouse or parent (if applicant is a dependent). The one year membership minimum must be satisfied by May 31, 2018.
The URA-AFT has signed on as a sponsor of the Women’s March on New Jersey 2018 in Morristown. The march will be held on Saturday, January 20th from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Morristown Town Hall, 200 South Street, Morristown, NJ.
This is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women since last year’s historic demonstration of resistance through sister marches across the country. Since that time women have run for office in record numbers, organized, told their stories, listened, and voted. This is the opportunity to again mobilize women across New Jersey continue working towards equity and justice.
Please see the flier or go to this link — https://www.womensmarchnj2018.com — for additional information (FAQ’s, safety and parking) and to sign up. We encourage you to join us at this event and let us know if you’re attending! Look for us, we’ll have our blue URA banner.
See our sponsorship information on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/events/1510277659053350?view=permalink&id=1535724909841958.
See under Upcoming Events at http://www.ura-aft.org/event/join-the-womens-march-on-nj-2018-this-saturday-jan-20th.
To prepare for your upcoming performance review the URA has provided a resource tool to help facilitate the process. Please go to our Professional Development page to view our SCP PowerPoint presentation.
In light of recent changes in immigration regulations and executive orders the AFT has provided a resource kit for undocumented students and campus support. Please share and use as you see fit to help our undocumented sisters and brothers.
Higher Education, Knowledge, Science… they go hand in hand but cutbacks to the Federal budget and rollback of regulations on health, air and water quality threaten our health and our jobs.
Join the Rutgers contingent of faculty, staff, students and our families at the March for Science on Saturday, April 22 in Washington, DC or Trenton.
ASB I Lunchtime Meeting, Busch Campus
March 29 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
200F-Conference Room-ASB 1, Busch
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URA General Membership Meeting
April 10 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
The Cove, Busch Student Center
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College Avenue Campus Lunchtime Meeting
April 11 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
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URA-AFT General Membership Meeting — 1st Budget Reading
April 17 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
The Raymond A. Peterson Scholarship offers awards between $1,000 to $2,500 for high school seniors entering any other post-secondary institution.
Full dues members of URA whose dependents maintain a minimum “B” average in their graduating class are eligible to apply.
Get involved with the URA’s Health & Safety Committee now! Visit the webpage at this link for more information.