Member activism helped achieve accord for full-time faculty, librarians and professional staff
EDISON… The Council of New Jersey State College Locals reached an accord late Monday that protects working conditions for more than four thousand full-time faculty, librarians and professional staff at all nine state colleges and universities, according to College Council President Nick Yovnello, the Assistant Director of Library Services at Rowan University. Yovnello characterized discussions as the most difficult in his 40 years of bargaining, but after intensive multiple sessions in June, the four-year accord grants pay raises comparable with other state unions, increases in summer session and overload rates and more stable funding for professional development.
Negotiations for a new contract for more than 4,000 adjunct professors will continue later this month.
College Council members at The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College, Richard Stockton College, Rowan University, Thomas Edison State College and William Paterson University held demonstrations in April to call for fairness. “In a challenging bargaining environment, we were able to withstand demands that would have decreased our ability to attract and retain skilled faculty, librarians and professional staff,” said Yovnello. “This tentative agreement gives our members funding for professional development to build skills and contains an agreement that supports sabbaticals for faculty.”
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