American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

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With contract about to expire, Newark Teachers Union says new deal with district is ‘very close’

Wall, Chalkbeat

The school year is over in Newark, but a big question lingers for teachers trying to budget for summer vacations or just pay the bills: How much will they earn this fall?

Union and district officials are still hammering out a contract for next school year that will determine how much Newark’s roughly 2,700 teachers are paid and how they can qualify for annual salary increases, which currently are tied to classroom performance.…

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Perth Amboy teachers reach contract agreement, students petition for better communication

PERTH AMBOY – An agreement in principle has been reached on a three-year contract between the Perth Amboy teachers union and board of education.

The agreement, which comes after more than a year of negotiations, protests and petitions from parents and students, was announced Friday in a release from Patricia Paradiso, a teacher at Robert N.…

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Negotiating since November, North Bergen teachers union urges BOE to approve new contract

Locked in negotiations since November, the North Bergen Federation of Teachers came out strong on Wednesday evening to urge the board of education to approve a new contract.

“I wanted people that are teachers to come up here tonight so you could see the people you are dealing with. Sometimes we get caught up with the negotiating team, it’s the negotiating team, but it’s not just the negotiating team: these are the people I’m representing,” said North Bergen Federation of Teachers President Elizabeth Lynch.…

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Perth Amboy teachers, school board at impasse in contract talks

Suzanne Russell, Bridgewater Courier News

PERTH AMBOY – Perth Amboy Superintendent of Schools David Roman recently received a three-year extension to his contract with a raise, along with a $30,000 bonus, and district teachers say that’s unfair, especially since when they have been working without a contract for nearly a year.

Members of the Perth Amboy Federation/American Federation of Teachers rallied last week outside district schools to protest the disparity.…

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Rutgers PTLs ratify new contract
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Part-Time Lecturers Ratify New Contract With Rutgers

Sitrin, NJ Spotlight

Union leader says next step is a fight for healthcare benefits for the university’s part-time lecturers

After prolonged and tense negotiations — and division within their union — part-time lecturers at Rutgers University voted to ratify a new contract agreement.

“It was a union priority, and a priority of our membership, to create a clear and direct career path, to end the cycle at Rutgers of hiring an army of adjuncts as interchangeable, temporary freelance employees,” Teresa Politano, president of the part-time faculty union said in an email on Friday after votes had been tallied.…

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Raritan Valley Community College teachers union pushes for higher raises, new contracts

Nick Muscavage, Bridgewater Courier News

BRANCHURG – The teachers union at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is putting pressure on the administration to schedule a date for contract bargaining.

Pattiann Kletz, president of RVCC Faculty Federation-American Federation of Teachers, said instructors at the college are “frustrated with substandard wage proposals and lack of progress” and called on the administration to “show good faith” and schedule a new day to start bargaining in earnest.…

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Rutgers Scarlet Knights Running In The Red

Union standoff
Unions have been in a tense standoff with the school over contract negotiations, and they have turned some of their fire on the athletic department’s finances.

“The mission of the university, as I understand it, it is not to create a fine athletic institution. It is to create a fine academic institution,” said Christine O’Connell, president of the Union of Rutgers Administrators.…

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AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera statement on proposed attacks on public worker pension and health insurance

“While uncertain economic times means elected leadership must make difficult decisions, New Jersey residents are already suffering at least partly because of President Trump’s elimination of the State and Local Taxes deduction as punishment for voting against him and his party.

If New Jersey’s elected leadership believes the appropriate response is to further penalize those of us who work in the public sector—including dedicated teachers, caring nurses and courageous first responders—in order to give tax breaks to millionaires, they are governing in a very irresponsible manner and leading us in the wrong direction.…

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Part-Time Faculty At Rutgers Reaches ‘Groundbreaking’ Contract

Citrin, NJ Spotlight

Teresa Politano, president of the part-time faculty union called the contract “revolutionary” but noted that it is primarily a foundation on which they hope to build future contracts.

“We’re not just freelance employees anymore. Under this agreement we will become more integrated faculty members,” Politano said. “That’s a radical restructuring of the overall faculty system and a good foundation for future contracts.”…

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My salary at Rutgers was so low I had to declare bankruptcy at age 27, teaching assistant says

Alexandra A. Adams, Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

Although we narrowly avoided going on a teaching strike at Rutgers University, it has become clear that central administration does not recognize the tremendous value that teaching assistants like me — and graduate workers in general — actually bring to students and the future of the institution. I find it incredibly saddening that the opportunity to provide a public service in research and education is typically accompanied by incurring a tremendous amount of debt and— at least in my case — going bankrupt.…

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Kean faculty union alleges retaliation after lecturers’ contracts aren’t renewed

Linh Tat, Politico


A decision by Kean University not to renew the contracts of more than a dozen full-time lecturers — the majority of whom spoke out earlier this school year after losing their private office spaces — has the faculty union accusing the school’s administration of retaliation.


Also an issue for the union is the fact that the majority of the affected employees are women or people of color — a concern highlighted by Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, the chair of her chamber’s higher education committee, in a letter to university officials, a copy of which POLITICO obtained.…

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N.J. college lecturers griped about losing offices, then lost their jobs, union claims

Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Ten lecturers at a New Jersey college are being let go without explanation, fueling accusations the college retaliated because they complained about losing their private offices, union leaders say.

Kean University recently told the 10 lecturers from its general education school that they would not have their one-year contracts renewed, said James Castiglione, president of Kean’s faculty union.…

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Sigourney Weaver was on hand to introduce North Bergen High School’s production of ‘Alien’

Jeremy Schneider, NJ Advance Media For NJ.com

As if North Bergen High School’s production of “Alien” wasn’t already exciting enough, there was a special guest in the building for their special encore performance on Friday — actress Sigourney Weaver.

Weaver, who Weaver played Lt. Ellen Ripley in the 1979 film as well as its three sequels and gave North Bergen High School’s production a special shout-out back when it went viral back in March, was on-hand to give the show a special introduction on what happened to be the 40th anniversary of the film’s release, known as the 4th annual “Alien Day.”…

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They Complained About Their Office. Then Kean U. Took Their Jobs Away.

Emma Pettit, Chronicle


Heather E. Connors got good news in December. Because Kean University values its general-education faculty, a letter from the provost said, any lecturer who returned in the fall would get a pay bump, including her.


But in March another letter arrived, this time bearing bad news. The provost would not be recommending Connors, who teaches writing, for reappointment.…

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13 Lecturers Fired At Kean University Including Nearly Half Of The General Education School

Joshua Rosario, Kean Tower


Ten of Kean University’s 21 General Education lecturers who advise and oversee about half of the freshmen class as well as teach will be let go this summer and were not given a reason.


[…]


The KFT is trying to overturn the layoffs and will hold a walkout and rally on May 6 outside Kean Hall in advance of the university’s Board of Trustees meeting.…

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