Dear Rutgers Colleagues:
Rutgers University is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached between the university and the PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, the union that represents Part-Time Lecturers at the university, for a four-year contract that provides increases in compensation for unit members; a new system for evaluation and advancement for Part-Time Lecturers; and enhancement of the Professional Development Fund. The agreement, which was reached Monday night, May 13, after ten months of negotiations with the negotiations unit, still must be ratified by the union membership.
The university has over the last ten months reached agreements with other employee unions, including:
- American Association of University Professors - American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO (AAUP-AFT)
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 888
- The Fraternal Order of Police Local 164
- International Union of Operating Engineers Local 68
- Teamsters Local 97
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 1761
The compensation package in the four-year agreement mirrors that which was reached with other unions and provides increases of 3 percent in each of the first three years and 2.5 percent in the final year. The agreement is retroactive to Fall 2018; eligible, covered employees will receive retroactive payments once the contract is ratified.
The agreement provides, among other things, the opportunity for advancement to new designations of PTL 2 and PTL 3 (and increased compensation for advancement to those designations) for those Part-Time Lecturers who meet the eligibility requirements for advancement, apply for advancement and successfully complete the contractually-negotiated evaluation process to obtain those designations. The Professional Development Fund will increase from $60,000 to $75,000 for each academic year of the agreement.
Reaching this agreement, which has been in negotiations since July 2018, is a credit to the hard work and diligence of negotiators from the PTLFC-AAUP-AFT and the Rutgers Labor Negotiating Team led by Lisa Bonick, Assistant Vice President for Academic Labor Relations, and David Cohen, Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.
Sincerely,
Vivian Fernández
Senior Vice President Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness