FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Karen Thompson
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732-572-6121
Part-time Lecturers at Rutgers University Authorize Strike
In ballots counted today, part-time lecturers (PTLs) teaching on the three main campuses of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, overwhelmingly authorized the union’s Executive Board to call "job actions, up to and including a strike."
The Part-time Lecturer Faculty Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (PTLFC-AAUP) has been negotiating with the university administration over a new agreement since January of 2003. The previous contract expired on June 30, 2003.
PTLs at Rutgers teach over 30% of the courses but earn $2,550 for a standard three-credit course. The number of courses taught and the size of each course are expected to increase despite the fact that salaries for PTLs have not. The total budget for PTL salaries last year was less than six million dollars while the entire university budget was over $1.3 billion.
"The university’s cost for raising PTL minimum salaries would be modest," said Jeff Kosten, President of the PTLFC-AAUP, "but the boost to undergraduate teaching would be huge."
Rutgers students paid over $300 million in tuition last year and that will rise by 8% for the upcoming year, which begins on September 1. Rutgers allocates less than 2% of tuition dollars for those that teach over 30% of the courses. On top of that they provide no health insurance benefits despite the fact that the state now allows the university to pay into the state health plan that currently covers all other university employees.
"By allowing the university to purchase health benefits for part-time lecturers through the state plan, the state has drastically reduced the cost of the union’s proposal for health benefits coverage. Add to this the fact that most PTLs are already covered by other employers, and it seems to be a wasted opportunity for the University to do right by all of its employees. Here is a true test of the administration’s commitment to quality education, and for all that the students are paying in tuition, it seems they are being short-changed. How can you treat those that provide nearly one-third of instruction so poorly?" stated Patrick Nowlan, Staff Representative for the AAUP.
Karen Thompson, Co-Chair of the AAUP Negotiating Team and a PTL for 25 years in the English Department asked, "Rutgers wants to compete with the very best universities in terms of grants and patents and administrative salaries, but where is the attention to quality instruction? Does education still mean something at the university?"