NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – If there was a volume knob, the staff on strike at Rutgers University would have refused to turn it down.
“I don’t see us ending this anytime soon,” said Hank Kalet, vice president of the Adjunct Faculty Union.
Day 2 of picket lines at Rutgers campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden also meant Day 2 at the negotiating table in Trenton, as both sides met at the Statehouse at the request of Gov. Phil Murphy. On Tuesday, union leaders told PIX11 that they don’t think the two sides are close.
“What we’re asking for is a philosophical change in the way the university pays and treats its employees and I think management is looking at this as a numbers thing,” said Kalet.
“We’re out here for adjuncts who make $30,000 a year,” said Tara Kelley, who is on strike. “We’re out here for the part-time lecturers who don’t have health insurance coverage.”
The university says on its website it is working hard to reach fair and reasonable agreements with the unions, but that the well-being of the students remains the top priority.
Many students told PIX11 some of their classes have been canceled.
“The mood around campus is — it’s split,” said Darius Griffin, Jr., a graduate student. “There [are] some undergrads taking advantage of the situation and not going to class, and there are people who are here for what college is meant for: getting that education so they can get to that next stage in life.”
Griffin can hear the picketing while he’s in class. When asked about which side he takes in this strike: “I’m on the side of, I’m trying to get my education and get that little piece of paper that means so much and get my way to the next stage in life.”
