In preparation for negotiations, a committee of dedicated members, led by Cook Lead Steward Jeannette Mullins, reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of our existing contract and grievance history, analyzed other staff contracts at Rutgers and around New Jersey and throughout higher education. The Contract Development Committee crafted the contract survey, generating more than 500 responses (see Contract Survey Responses) about what improvements we want to see at Rutgers.
At the same time, URA-AFT Director Greg Rusciano submitted an information request to management. “We request information, data and documents before and during negotiations,” said Rusciano. “As equal players at the table, and exclusive bargaining representatives, management is legally mandated to provide these data points,” he said. The requests include:
- Budgets by campus and for specific departments,
- Rutgers real estate holdings,
- payments of salaries, overtime and pay adjustments,
- job descriptions
- compassionate leave usage
- health and safety reports
- outside vendor contracts.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the information requested has not been provided, according to Rusciano. “Management is legally mandated to provide this information. We demand that Rutgers management honor our information requests to achieve our goal of reaching a strong contract quickly,” he said.
“We owe it to our members to perform due diligence as we consider Rutgers management’s proposals and draft our own,” said Rusciano. “We need to fact check what management tells us, especially when they are claiming things are tight enough to justify a hiring freeze while we all see chancellor-level hires, exorbitant executive pay and wasteful spending.”
Local President Christine O’Connell said that providing accurate and comprehensive information is a show of respect for our Bargaining Team and members. “Good faith bargaining starts with sharing information. Public employers should have nothing to hide.”
