July 18, 2022

Bargaining Update #3 

Presentation on Article 4: “Equal Pay for Equal Work” 

Takeaways

• During our session, seven of our members and two full-time/grad colleagues presented strong testimony on our Article 4 proposal (“Salary Provisions”), which specifically outlines our plan to ensure adjunct faculty receive equal pay for equal work. Read the draft contract proposal here. For an explanation of “fractional appointments,” read our flyer here. 
• At the beginning of the session, PTLFC president Amy Higer presented on the impact that the contingency crisis in higher education has had, not only on faculty working conditions, but also student learning outcomes. Read her full opening remarks here. 
• Three current adjunct faculty members and one non-tenure track faculty member (NTT)  provided testimony on the similarity of work between the two positions. As PTLFC board member David Letwin stated, having worked both as an NTT and a PTL for Rutgers: “the single difference between my PTL and NTT appointments was that as a PTL I was paid less for the same work, had no job security, received no healthcare coverage, and didn’t have my own office.” 
• Speakers also provided testimony on the importance of capped class sizes, tuition remission for grad PTLs, and the need for health insurance benefits. 
• After calling for a 20-minute caucus, management presented no strong counters or questions to our proposal on Article 4. They stated that they needed to hear our presentation of Article 6 (“Appointments”) before offering a counter to both proposals. 

Positives

We had a strong show of support from members and full-time/grad union colleagues. Student activists proudly displayed “Student/Adjunct Solidarity” Zoom profile pictures and backgrounds. We had nearly 50 activists in attendance for our bargaining session. The bargaining committee crafted a powerful presentation that demonstrated the problem of contingency and pay inequity in higher education, showing how our Article 4 proposal is a compelling solution to this problem. 

Negatives

Management refrained from asking questions despite being offered opportunities throughout the session to do so. Our bargaining team called on management to say whether they support the principle of equal pay for equal work. We offered our solution and offered management a chance to counter, but the administration so far has refrained from taking a stand on this issue and will likely continue to do so. We await their counterproposal, which now seems to be delayed until after our Article 6, “Appointments” (job security) presentation on August 1. 

Upcoming

We currently have two more bargaining sessions on the calendar: Monday, August 1 and Monday, August 15, both at 4 PM. Our bargaining team plans to present our proposal for “Appointments” (job security), Article 6, at the next session. 

RSVP here to receive information about attending these important sessions. Note that you must be a union member to attend.