Rutgers University Biomedical Health Science (RBHS) faculty are on the front lines of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Yet throughout the COVID-19 crisis – in fact, for nearly two years – the 1,400 RBHS faculty and staff represented by the AAUP-BHSNJ, an affiliate of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, have worked without a contract.
They are embedded in the New Jersey Department of Health. They are physicians in hospitals tending to ICU patients at great personal risk. They are building PPE on 3D printers.
They are also developing Rutgers’ new saliva-based COVID-19 test, which has been billed a “game changer.” Development of the Rutgers saliva test – which went into limited use in mid-April and soon will be checking hundreds of thousands of people worldwide – is a highly valuable and highly visible piece of our State University’s response to COVID-19.
However, after almost two years, Rutgers has failed to reach a contract with the heroes’ union, the AAUP-BHSNJ-NJAFL-CIO. This contract would support the faculty heroes in many ways, including revamping health and safety measures, clarifying the role of family leave/parental leave, and reducing gender pay inequity. Many of these common-sense solutions are already contained in many other Rutgers union contracts.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO urges all affiliates to support our brothers and sisters in the AAUP-BHSNJ-NJAFL-CIO by taking action RIGHT NOW.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION.