By Eugene Paik/The Star-Ledger
It won’t just mean skimping on restaurant dinners or cutting back on vacations, said Mark Cozin, 63, a sociology and anthropology professor. He said he may have to pick up a second job just to pay his bills.
“I know I’m going to be worrying about things that will take away from what I can do in my discipline,” he said.
It’s a worry floating around the campus in Branchburg in the sixth month of a stalemate over a faculty contract.
At issue is a pay freeze in the first year of a proposed two-year deal, said Maria Defilippis, president of the faculty union, which represents both full-time and part-time teachers.
A 2 percent raise is reportedly included in the second year, but Defilippis said it’s not enough because teachers must contribute more toward health benefits — including 1.5 percent of their salaries next year.
That could set the salaries of young teachers lower than those given to their peers at other community colleges, Defilippis said, and possibly scare off talented educators.
“I don’t think we’re asking for the moon,” Defilippis said.
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