Category: Uncategorized

For immediate release: September 19th 2023

Contact: union@ura-aft.org

Our union, the Union of Rutgers Administrators (URA-AFT) stands in solidarity with striking USW 4-200 nurses at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital New Brunswick. As they enter the 46th day of a strike against New Jersey’s largest private employer, we at Rutgers University stand shoulder to shoulder with our frontline workers. We support the fight not just for basic demands of compensation but workplace safety that keeps all New Jerseyans safe: safe staffing saves lives.

It is reprehensible that executives at RWJ Barnabas have spent over $54 million in replacement nurses when those resources could have been used to meet the nurses’ demands, but we know this fight for dignity and respect is about control of the workplace. RWJBarnabas wants to maintain inefficient staffing ratios on all RWJBarnabas campuses and USW 4-200 nurses want to improve them.

URA-AFT stands in solidarity with the striking USW 4-200 nurses and calls upon RWJBarnabas to meet their demands.

Take the pledge and stand up with USW 4-200 at bit.ly/ura4usw

This statement was approved unanimously by the membership of URA-AFT

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These are proposals that have been resolved with a Tentative Agreement (TA) between URA and Rutgers. Agreement on individual articles is the first step towards reaching a complete agreement which will become binding after a member ratification vote. We’ve made improvements to each of these articles without any givebacks to management.

Article 3: Administrative Leave

• 1/2 day gain in AL for those who change from 10-month to 12-month employees.
• No loss in AL for those who change from 12-month to 10-month employees during the FY of the change.
• Cultural holidays added as a reason for AL.

Article 6: Bereavement Leave

• Bereavement leave can now be used within 120 days instead of  90.
• Requests for extensions due to a public health emergency that delays memorial observance, or for religious, cultural, or travel reasons shall not be unreasonably denied.

Article 8: Call-Back Pay

• Overtime-ineligible employees who have left their regularly-assigned University work locations will now be guaranteed a minimum of three hours of compensatory time at that work location instead of one.

Article 16: Holidays and Personal Holidays

• Juneteenth National Independence Day is now a holiday to be observed annually on the third Friday of June.
• Election Day has been added as a reason for PH, V, or AL Day.
• Rutgers employees who work in county offices are guaranteed 15 paid holidays.

Article 17: Job Openings

• jobs.Rutgers.edu job board now filterable according to URA-AFT positions.
  
• Minimum of two URA-AFT applicants must be interviewed before others.

Article 19: Just Cause – Discipline

• A verbal warning must be specifically stated as a warning at the time it is issued. 
• Rutgers shall be required to give advance notice of a pre-termination meeting to both an employee and the URA by no later than noon of the preceding business day.

Article 27: Non-Hostile Work Environment

• The definition of harassment was expanded to include oral, physical or written harassment, which are now explicitly inappropriate and unacceptable. 

Article 28: Overtime/Compensatory Time Benefits

• Exempt employee excessive workload process now has an improved appeal procedure.

Article 29: Parking

• Employees will now have their pay for parking deducted in 26 equal payments throughout the year, and employees can cancel their registration at any time in the fiscal year to stop further payments.
• Employees who do not purchase an annual pass can purchase up to 10 daily permits.
• Registration will automatically renew.

Article 33: Probationary Employees

• Class 1 employees who have completed a probationary period prior to entering the URA bargaining unit will not be required to serve another probation.
• Meeting to discuss any probationary extension must be held within 10 business days.

Article 34: Professional Development

• Professional Development now explicitly includes university-sponsored professional conferences, workshops, seminars, or conferences, and the ability to request an alternate work schedule has been expanded to include these items.
• Employees must have advance notification of costs in attending professional development events.
• Employees will be reimbursed for the costs of certifications and licenses required by the University or state (outside of travel expenses, which is governed by
  University Policy 40.4.1).

Article 58: Accessible Parking

• Rutgers shall provide additional permanent or temporary parking spaces when there are fewer parking spaces than individuals registered for accessible parking.
• Rutgers must meet in a Labor-Management Conference within 10 business days if the union requests to meet regarding the number of accessible parking spaces.

View SCP 2023 .ppt

The Staff Compensation Program (SCP) is the annual performance evaluation process. The SCP process was formerly known as Pay for Performance (P4P). The names (SCP and P4P) are holdovers from the years when there was a merit-based component for raises. After we analyzed the impact of merit-based raises, we found that managers allocated them inconsistently and inequitably, so we no longer tie compensation to performance. 

By May 15 you should be notified of your performance evaluation rating – either meet standards or does not meet standards, for each key duty and overall. Your signature on the SCP does not necessarily indicate agreement with your evaluation. If you disagree with your supervisor’s evaluation or rating, you can sign “Receipt only” on the employee signature line. You should also write and attach your explanation and comments to document why you disagree. Make sure you request and keep a copy of the final evaluation with all signatures and attachments. 

Note that there is a check box in Section 3 that indicates that performance standards and expectations for next year’s evaluation process are being modified. If the standards and expectations are being changed significantly, ask that your Classification and Recruitment Form (CARF) be updated to reflect the changes. These changes may also be justification for a reclassification (self-initiated or department-initiated), or in-range/grade adjustment. 

“We are indoors. We are outdoors. We are white collar. We are blue collar,” says Lucye Millerand, executive vice president of the Union of Rutgers Administrators (URA). “We want decent raises you know what inflation is like. We want a salary structure that will reward longevity.”

Rutgers employees consider further job action as contract negotiations continue, Matt Trapani and Chris Keating, News 12 NJ, April 25

In the Union of Rutgers Administrators membership meeting on Monday, April 10th, members approved a motion to launch a strike pledge.

Why are we taking a strike pledge (and a potential strike authorization vote)?

We are taking a strike pledge drive because our members approved a motion to launch a strike pledge. More than that, though, this strike pledge comes after over ten months of bargaining that has produced little to no movement on our core demands—raises in line with inflation, telework & equity for our essential staff, career pathways, job security, and more. We are taking a strike pledge (and potential strike authorization vote) in order to gauge if we have the power to win the contract that we deserve.

What is a strike pledge? 

A strike pledge is NOT a vote to authorize a strike—that would take place through an official vote of the union membership at a later date. A strike pledge sends a message to the administration that we’re ready to take action to win a fair contract, including a strike if necessary. An important part of a strike pledge is you committing to do outreach to make this happen. This includes making phone calls to members, talking to your colleagues, attending a building or campus meeting, and more.

If enough people pledge to strike, are we then on strike?

No, a strike pledge is NOT a vote to authorize a strike but it signals we will likely head towards one in the near future. A strike authorization vote (SAV) is the formal way to prepare to strike.

How is a pledge different from a strike authorization vote? 

A strike pledge is a step just before a strike authorization vote. A strike pledge is not binding, it gives our union officers, bargaining team, and member organizers an idea of how the membership feels so they can decide if they have the power in numbers to move forward with a strike authorization vote. Additionally, only members can vote in a strike authorization vote; non-members and members alike can participate in the pledge.

How does a strike pledge fit into the process of actually going on strike? 

Step 1: Members indicate their willingness to go on strike and commit to membership outreach. A strike pledge is an important way to tell Rutgers administration that we’re ready to take action and also to determine the power of the membership to move forward in taking a strike authorization vote.

Step 2: If the strike pledge indicates a majority of members (1300) are ready to take action and move towards a strike, a strike authorization vote is presented to URA members. 

Step 3: If a significant majority of members vote yes on a strike authorization vote, this allows for union officers to call for a strike, if the bargaining process is not moving forward.  

If we go on strike, will we face disciplinary action? 

We can expect members to be threatened with, and possibly receive, disciplinary action such as a letter of reprimand. To settle a strike, our bargaining team would demand that discipline for members who strike peacefully be dropped.

The URA bargaining team has met with management over forty times, and has tentative agreements on 10 articles, including, most recently, Just Cause and Bereavement Leave. Parking, Non-Hostile Work Environment, and Probationary Employee are some other tentative agreements. We still have not made progress on key priorities, including raises , telework, and recognition for our essential employees, among much else. When presented with thoughtful proposals that would improve our members’ lives and Rutgers, management has often rejected or ignored them.

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