Rutgers University Staff and Faculty Go on Strike

For the first time in the 257 year history of New Jersey's Rutgers University, educators at the school have gone on strike.

Citing an impasse in negotiations concerning equal pay, salary increases, job security and other issues, three unions that collectively represent about 9,000 people have decided to hit the picket line.

NBC10's Matt DeLucia was at the school's Camden campus where a strike is set to begin on Monday.

"We have bargained and bargained and bargained and bargained and bargained, and we are not getting anywhere, and, we need to do something more," said Rebecca Givan, president of Rutgers Rutgers AAUP-AFT, during a meeting held on Sunday to announce the strike.

Givan's group represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates, and counselors. The other unions that have joined the effort are the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents so-called part-time lecturers and the AAUP-BHSNJ, which represents health science faculty in Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences facilities.

According to union officials, talks between staff and school leaders have been going on for more than ten months and have made no progress.

In a statement, Amy Higer, president of the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, said bargaining has been incredibly frustrating over the past few months.

"We want to be teaching our courses and finishing up spring semester, but we need—and deserve—a fair contract. Management says a strike will harm students. You know what really harms students? The high turnover rate that results from paying teachers poorly and making them reapply for their jobs every semester, as adjuncts have to," she noted in a statement.

In a message sent to the Rutgers community, Jonathan Holloway, president of the university, said the school is dedicated to the education of its 67,000 students and that he was disappointed by the union members' decision to strike.

"To say that this is deeply disappointing would be an understatement, especially given that just two days ago, both sides agreed in good faith to the appointment of a mediator to help us reach agreements," said Holloway in a statement. "We have all been hard at work trying to resolve issues around compensation, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. For the past several weeks, negotiations have been constant and continuous. Significant and substantial progress has been made, as I have noted, and I believe that there are only a few outstanding issues. We will, of course, negotiate for as long as it takes to reach agreements and will not engage in personal attacks or misinformation."

Strikes began at 9 a.m. on Monday morning at Rutgers' campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick.