Categories
URA Contract

Contract Education: Article 19, Just Cause/Discipline


One of the most important articles in our contract is Article 19, Just Cause & Discipline.  This article ensures that “no employee shall be discharged, suspended, disciplined, or receive a deficiency downgrade except for just cause.” Additionally, both URA and Rutgers University “affirm the concept of progressive discipline.”

The language of this article means that supervisors cannot discipline or discharge union members for trivial or manufactured reasons. They must provide evidence for any disciplinary actions. Additionally, except in cases of egregious misconduct, supervisors must follow the following disciplinary steps: a verbal warning, a written warning, a suspension, and termination
In our newest contract, we also clarified that a verbal warning must also be stated as a verbal warning when it is issued. 

These steps are also clearly laid out on UHR’s website, except that the new language clarifying what a verbal warning is has not been added. Our union has been able to roll back discipline in the past when these steps have not been followed.

Click here to see the most updated version of Just Cause in our 2022-2026 contract. If you are interested in learning more about the specific benchmarks that Rutgers has to meet in order to mete out disciplinary action, we encourage you to check out this 2014 article that our union produced on Just Cause. We also encourage you to check out this related article on Grievance; we will be providing a write-up of this article in a following e-blast.
The Communications Committee will be rolling out a series of educational materials, social media updates, and other member-centered materials in the spring semester. If you are interested in helping out with this work and joining the Communications Committee, please fill out this form out here.

Categories
URA Contract Win

Telework Agreement Reached

URA and other Coalition of Rutgers Unions (CRU) unions have reached an agreement with management on incorporating telework in our contract. Highlights include:

  • All unit employees are eligible to apply for a flexible work arrangement, whether you are non-exempt (eligible for overtime) or exempt (ineligible for overtime)
  • Ad hoc (temporary) remote work arrangements can be made
  • Seasonal modifications to a hybrid schedule can be made 
  • Written explanation must be provided if request is denied
  • Grievances can be filed 

The new language will provide more opportunity for telework than our pre-COVID contract language. It will also provide more accountability than UHR’s temporary COVID-era policies.

Text of the final article will be finalized and shared soon. Congratulations and much thanks and appreciation to the members of the bargaining team and our sibling unions who worked together on this issue.

Categories
Benefits

Union Plus Scholarships

Apply today: January 31 deadline for 2024 Union Plus Scholarships. A scholarship for union families. Union Plus Scholarships help union families with the cost of college. https://www.unionplus.org/…/edu…/union-plus-scholarships

Categories
Win

You Can’t Be Fired For Being Sick

Rutgers management have finally agreed, officially, that workers who have sick time accrued can use that time if they are sick or injured.  

At a Labor Management Conference in October, One Source/UHR reps conceded that this was an “error.” It’s up to all of us who use medical leave to be sure this “error” stays corrected.

This should not be news, but over the years, URA members have been wrongly told that if we exceeded our FMLA job protection, we were at risk of losing our jobs. This has even happened to some workers who had a hundred or more days of sick time on the books.

If you have sick time accrued, you have the right to use it. You cannot lose your job, or be disciplined for using your sick time. 

What you must do is document your medical provider’s assessment that you are not ready to come back to work. It may happen that you are not able to return to work but you are having trouble getting that assessment in writing from your doctor. A specialist may be very busy, or you may have a sudden setback. If so: reach out to OneSource and to your department IN WRITING, or have a family member reach out. Contact your union rep to build the record that you are doing your best to provide a new return-to-work date.

This is NOT a matter for the ADA accommodation process. Do not request an ADA accommodation to use your sick time. 

Union reps are also continuing the conversation with management about how medical leave is managed once paid time off is used up. If you have concerns or examples of how your case was managed by One Source/HR, please contact union@ura-aft.org

Categories
Win

Retirees Receive Retro Raises

“I was so thankful to hear we would be receiving retro pay,” said Sylvia Krieger, who retired from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) on Busch Campus last July. “I didn’t think I would see that happen and was grateful to hear you fought for us to get it.”

Due to the timing of the agreement of the URA contract and member ratification, URA members who retired in July, August or September were told by UHR that they were ineligible for the FY23 4% raise.

After months of fighting with management, URA won retirees from those months the 4% raises retroactively. Especially for PERS retirees, this win will have a direct and permanent benefit on pension earnings. 

URA advocacy doesn’t end when members separate from Rutgers. If there are wrongs, we continue to fight, and those fights can take years for a remedy.

Krieger said she plan to use the money for a trip. “Thank you for fighting for us,” she said. “I really recommend that those who are not members of the union, should join,” she said. “You will get what you deserve and not being in the union, you will not have anyone advocating for you.”

Categories
Win

URA Co-Ads Underpaid by $275K, Made Whole With Grievance Settlement

Earning extra pay as a co-adjutant is not uncommon among our members—it is a great way to earn extra pay and gain teaching experience.  But in late 2018, Rutgers suddenly stopped allowing co-adjutant appointments for non-exempt staff.  We filed grievances with the help of members who shared paystubs, emails and experiences.  Thanks to this collective effort, Rutgers had to perform an audit.  It revealed that about 100 URA co-ads were being underpaid all along.   We settled the grievances recently, and members were able to pick up their checks in December before the holiday break!  

Bill Scharf (New Brunswick) who received the largest check and taught many sections of anatomy had this to say: Of course the money was wonderful, but equally valuable was that I no longer felt like it was “David versus Goliath.”  The Union support psychologically made the playing field a great deal more level.

Camden
Newark Co-Adjunct settlement
New Brunswick Co-Adjunct settlement 1
New Brunswick Co-Adjunct settlement 2
Categories
Health & Safety

Acceptable Indoor Work Temperatures

As the weather has been unpredictable lately, the Health and Safety committee reminds members that temperature is a common indoor air quality workplace complaint. One contractual gain is a recognized temperature range based on the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) standard guidelines of 68-79 degrees Fahrenheit.

If your indoor workspace is outside that range please contact Facilities to report the issue using the online submission portal. You will need to log in with your netID. Since our original announcement of this contract provision, 20 members have taken advantage of the digital thermometers available for members to borrow from the URA Health and Safety committee.

URA Thermometer Request Form

If you have been experiencing issues and wish to borrow a digital thermometer for your workspace please complete this form and a member of the Health and Safety committee will be in touch to get a thermometer to you. Be sure to also reach out to colleagues to see if the issue is widespread and encourage them to fill out the form as well. Once you have your data, submit a work order to facilities and keep a record of the request and response time. If it is a health and safety concern, additionally contact REHS to report. Keep the Health and Safety committee updated so we can assist with following up if needed!

Categories
Solidarity Uncategorized

Our Statement of Solidarity with USW 4-200

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

Categories
URA Contract

Full Tentative Agreement

Download >>

Categories
URA Contract

Resolved or TA’d Articles

These are contract articles that have been resolved with a Tentative Agreement (TA) between URA and Rutgers. A new collective agreement will become effective only after a member ratification vote.

Article 2: Acting Appointment

  • Employee input and signature now required on new Acting Appointment form before submission to UHR.

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 days.
  • Rutgers employees who work in county offices are guaranteed 15 paid holidays.

Article 17: Job Openings

  • A minimum of two URA candidates must be interviewed before others, if they apply within the first 5 business days of the internal posting.
  • All URA candidates who apply within the first 5 business days of the internal posting must be considered before external candidates may be interviewed. 
  • jobs.Rutgers.edu job board now filterable according to URA-AFT positions.

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 23: Meal Allowance

  • $10 allowance beginning July 1, 2023 after working 12 consecutive hours. 
  • $11 allowance beginning July 1, 2025 after working 12 consecutive hours.

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

  • Overtime-ineligible employee excessive workload process has an improved appeal process.

Article 29: Parking

  • Employees will now have their pay for parking deducted in 26 equal payments throughout the year, and 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 that may be eligible for reimbursement for 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 governed by University Policy 40.4.1).

Article 35: Reclassification

  • Clarification regarding the criteria to be used for reclassification reviews.
  • Clarification regarding arbitration remedies allowed for a union grievance.
  • For self-initiated reclassification reviews:
    • Written acknowledgement of receipt by UHR.
    • Denials must include a list of all documents and comparison CARFs considered.
    • Determinations to include new salary, start date, new title, and copy of new CARF.

Article 38 – Environmental Health and Safety Committee

  • Quarterly labor-management conferences between Rutgers Unions and management.
  • See “New: Health and Safety” below.

Article 39 – Salary Adjustments

  • Additional criteria for new salary resulting from promotions.
  • Additional criteria for in-range/grade salary adjustments.
  • See “New: Self-Initiated In-Range/Grade Salary Adjustment Pilot Program” below.

Article 41: Salary Improvements and Appendix G

  • Across-the-board raises to the annual base salary:
    • FY23 – 4% retroactive to July 1,2022, if you were on payroll June 30, 2022 and through the date of payment.
    • FY24 – 3.75% to July 1, 2023, if you were on payroll June 30, 2023 and through the date of payment.  
    • FY25 – 3.5% effective July 1, 2024, if you are on payroll June 30, 2024 and through the date of payment.
    • FY26 – 3.5% of union-wide average paid as a flat dollar raise effective July 1, 2025, if you are on payroll June 30, 2025 and through the date of payment.
  • No salary freeze allowed due to a fiscal emergency declaration for FY23, FY24, and FY25.

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.

Article 60: Temporary and Casual Appointments

  • A pilot program begins January 2024 through June 2026 and builds off of a recent arbitration decision which prevents Class 3 temporary appointments.
  • All temporary positions must now be Class 1 for a maximum one-year appointment.  
  • Temporary positions only allowed for vacancies, leaves of absence, or one-time projects.
  • Temporary positions are eligible for raises according to Article 41.
  • Casual employees continue to have access to grievance procedure to enforce policy.

New – Health and Safety procedures:

  • A procedure for working elsewhere when the indoor environment is unhealthful (including when temperatures are outside of 68-79 degrees).
  • An appeals procedure for unions to challenge Rutgers safety decisions.
  • Access to information and worksites by union experts to investigate safety.

New – Self-Initiated In-Range/Grade Salary Adjustment Pilot Program

  • Program runs July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.
  • Eligible to apply at 5+ years in same position and if no adjustment in prior year.
  • Increases of up to 10% based on:
    • relevant years of service or other market-based equity considerations
    • scope, depth, impact, responsibility, or complexity of job functions
  • Program is subject to grievance procedure.

Ongoing Negotiations – Health Insurance and Flex Work will continue to be negotiated at the Coalition of Rutgers Unions negotiations table.