With COVID-19 cases rising across Newark and Camden, and with the potential of a post-Christmas spike in New Jersey, AFTNJ and Rutgers URA-AFT (Local 1766) are calling for the immediate closing of Rutgers University’s John Cotton Dana and Paul Robeson libraries except for cleaning and maintenance until the start of the spring 2021 semester.
Additionally, Rutgers URA-AFT is requesting the implementation of team staffing for the spring semester alternating in-person and remote work until the pandemic is over. During the fall semester, the staffs at Rutgers’ Newark and Camden libraries worked on-site, even though the campuses were without faculty and students.
“Rutgers is not a private, gated community, and its decision to have us work on campus may contribute to the spread in the heart of a city that is, literally, dying of COVID,” said Dorothy J. Grauer, a library associate at John Cotton Dana and shop steward for Rutgers URA-AFT. “If Rutgers loves Newark as it claims, then it needs to be a good citizen and comply with the city’s mission to stop the spread.”
Rutgers URA-AFT this week launched an online petition to university librarian Dr. Krisellen Maloney, other Rutgers officials, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Camden Mayor Francisco Moran that addresses their concerns and outlines their requests.