AAUP President Rudy Bell’s Letter to our Members June 17, 2004

 

June 17, 2004 

 

Dear Colleague,

On June 14, 2004 the Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters and the University Administration reached tentative agreement on a new contract, subject to member ratification. Both the AAUP’s Negotiating Team and its Executive Council endorse the agreement, and I strongly urge you to join the AAUP leadership in voting positively for ratification.

While we did not achieve all of our goals, and year one of the contract offers no economic gains for faculty who were not promoted that year, the overall proposed settlement does achieve our primary economic objectives. Specifically, it mirrors the package approved at the state colleges, both in total increase to the salary base and in pay-out to our bargaining unit members over the four years of the contract, which will expire June 30, 2007. Key provisions of the agreement are as follows:

SALARY TABLE INCREASES

  1. Projected increase to the salary base of $43,175,000, from the current salary base of $213,000,000 to an ending base of $256,175,000. The specific salary provisions are as follows:

    2. YEAR                                           FACULTY                                      TA/GA
                                                        ATB      FASIP                                   ATB
    2003-04                                           0%         0%                                       0%
    2004-05                                        2.4%       2.4%                                     10%
    2005-06                                        2.4%       2.4%                                       8%
    2006-07                                        3.79%     3.79%                                     8%

    All TA/GA increases for all years will be paid as of July 1. Faculty increases for 2004-05, both ATB (across-the-board) and FASIP (Faculty Academic Service Increment Program), will be paid as of July 1. The ATB and FASIP faculty increases in 2005-06 and 2006-07 will be paid half as of July 1 and half as of January 1, compounded.

    The compounded faculty salary adjustment, based solely on ATB’s, will total 8.88% over the life of the agreement. Individuals who receive "average" FASIP (equal to their ATB’s) will see their salaries increase by approximately 18.38% (depending on actual step movement, and with compounding) over the same time period.

    For your information, we provide as examples the salaries of TA/GAs and then of mid-range faculty at each rank who do or who do not receive "average" FASIP increases (equal to the ATB):

                               July 1, 03        July 1, 04        July 1, 05        Jan 1, 06        July 1, 06        Jan 1, 07  

    TA/GA-AY          $14,300          $15,730          $16,988          $16,988          $18,347          $18,347
    TA/GA-CY              $16,302          $17,932          $19,367          $19,367          $20,916          $20,916

    Instructor
    No FASIP           $40,000           $40,960           $41,452           $41,949         $42,746         $43,554
    Avg FASIP         $40,000           $41,920           $42,926           $43,956         $45,627         $47,351

    Asst Prof
    No FASIP            $60,000          $61,440          $62,177          $62,923          $64,119          $65,331
    Avg FASIP          $60,000          $62,880          $64,389          $65,934          $68,440          $71,027

    Assoc Prof
    No FASIP            $85,000          $87,040          $88,084          $89,141          $90,835          $92,552
    Avg FASIP          $85,000          $89,080          $91,218          $93,407          $96,957        $100,622

    P-I
    No FASIP            $100,000        $102,400        $103,629        $104,872        $106,865       $108,885
    Avg FASIP          $100,000        $104,800        $107,315        $109,891        $114,067       $118,378

    P-II
    No FASIP            $120,000        $122,880        $124,355        $125,847        $128,238       $130,662
    Avg FASIP          $120,000        $125,760        $128,778        $131,869        $136,880       $142,054

    Faculty who receive more than the "average" of all FASIP awards obviously will achieve higher salary adjustments than those shown above. Faculty who receive promotions also will achieve higher salaries than the examples above.

    OTHER ECONOMIC

  2. Restoration of the provision for a one-semester sabbatical leave at 100% pay after twelve semesters for Associate and Full Professors. (Assistant Professors continue to be eligible after six semesters). No change in existing provisions for 80%-pay sabbaticals.
  3. Promotion increases for faculty are 10%, paid as of July 1 throughout the life of the agreement.
  4. Full fee remission (currently an average of $1078 per annum) for TA/GAs (both state-funded and grant funded) beginning with the Fall 2003 semester and continuing in perpetuity. All TA/GAs on the 2003-04 payroll will receive a refund check for the fees they paid in the 2003-04 academic year.
  5. An increase in the TA/GA competitiveness pool of 10% each year starting on July 1, 2004. Competitiveness awards will become a permanent part of the TA/GA’s individual salary base, not treated as a one-year bonus. Contractual language to enhance transparency, accountability, and faculty input in competitiveness award procedures. Improvements in contract language on TA/GA grievances and reappointment procedures.
  6. A bonus for part-time TA/GAs of $75 per semester, up to a maximum expenditure of $15,000 per year.
  7. The titles (and salary adjustments of $110 each) of TA/GA-II and TA/GA-III will be phased out, with those who hold such titles and salary adjustments retaining them upon reappointment but no new appointments made at these titles.

NON-SALARY/NON-ECONOMIC

  1. Improvement of maternity leave provisions, including an extension of minimum recuperative paid leave from four to six weeks.
  2. Strengthening of provisions to protect individuals suspended at less than full pay.
  3. Separate committees to be formed to consider the issues of the Article X grievance procedure, parking, and FASIP procedures. Other committees to negotiate on distance learning, winter session, computing policies, and early retirement.
  4. County Extension Department Heads’ compensation to be addressed by a letter from Vice-President Furmanski.
  5. No enrollments in the Traditional State Health Plan for newly-hired persons.
  6. Reduction in cost of course or other work replacements for AAUP officers.
  7. All Unfair Practice charges related to bargaining to be withdrawn by both sides.

Apart from several minor technical changes in language, all other provisions will be continued from the prior contract.

You will judge for yourself whether these contract provisions warrant your support. I am voting YES because I believe that achieving overall parity with the state college package (20.2% over the four years of the contract) is a good settlement, especially given the current economic and political realities.

The proposed annual rates of ATB’s for faculty compare favorably with the two prior contracts. In the 1995-99 contract, annual ATB’s were 0%, 0%, 2.15%, and 2.85%, for a total of 5.06% compounded. In the 1999-2003 contract, annual ATB’s were 1.4%, 1.5%, 1.5%, and 1.9%, for a total of 6.45% compounded. The percentage of money in FASIP remains unchanged at 50/50, as in the prior two contracts.

The salary increases for TA/GAs far exceed anything in prior contracts and are nearly double those for the faculty. The abolition of fees, which are slated to increase significantly each year, relieves TA/GAs of an enormous burden, currently over $1000 in after-tax dollars. This gain applies both to state-funded TAs and to grant funded GAs, thus putting more than $2,000,000 into the pockets of our graduate students, nearly 2,000 of whom are represented by the AAUP.

We are all greatly indebted to our Negotiating Team for its perseverance over many difficult months. We are especially indebted to the team chair, Bob Boikess of the Chemistry Department, for bringing us this proposed settlement.

My hope is that a strong vote for ratification will help us to restore the mutual respect and collegiality with the administration that is appropriate for nurturing resolution of the several important issues on which we have not yet reached agreement. Many of you have worked with me on one aspect or another of these "leave it to a committee" problems, whether in the Senate, the Faculty Council, or ad hoc venues. If the contract is ratified, I will be calling upon you to assist the AAUP in resolving these matters. With a YES vote on ratification, at least the money will be done, our competitiveness in recruiting outstanding graduate students will be greatly enhanced, and we can get down to the business of working together to make Rutgers an even better institution for teaching and research.

Should you have any questions with regard to the above, please feel free to contact me.

Fraternally yours,

 

Rudy Bell, President
Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters