By Angela Delli Santi. The Associated Press.
TRENTON — Labor leaders representing 30,000 workers from all the unions that would be affected by a far-reaching plan to overhaul higher education in New Jersey are endorsing a proposal to realign Rutgers, Rowan and the University of Medicine and Dentistry.
Union negotiator Jean Pierce told The Associated Press labor is “98 percent” satisfied with changes to a university merger bill that add collective bargaining and job protections and help ensure University Hospital in Newark remains viable. Concerns remain about the authority a new governing board would have over Rowan and Rutgers-Camden, and long-term funding for University Hospital, the state’s biggest charity care provider.
The union coalition includes the Communications Workers of America, American Association of University Professors and Health Professionals and Allied Employees, which Pierce represents. She and Eric Richard of the AFL-CIO planned to issue the statement at Monday’s Budget Committee hearing.
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