Rutgers University educators set to go on strike in what would be massive, historic walkout

After nearly a year of bargaining for what they call a fair contract, unions representing 9,000 faculty and staff at Rutgers University plan to walk off the job Monday morning, CBS New York reports.

The strike would impact full- and part-time union employees and would be the first in the school’s 257-year history. It would also be one of the largest strikes in the history of higher education.

The unions negotiated with university officials through the weekend but the sides failed to reach contract agreements.

The president of the Rutgers American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers (AUP-AFT), Rebecca Givan, said in a statement that the unions and management remain far apart on many core issues.

“We intend for this new contract to be transformative, especially for our lowest-paid and most vulnerable members,” Givan said. “But our proposals to raise graduate workers and adjunct faculty up to a living wage and establish meaningful job security for adjuncts are exactly the ones that the administration has resisted most.”

An online town hall was to be held Sunday night to announce the strike.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted a statement calling the sides to meet at his office on Monday “to have a productive dialogue.”

The university had said it had brought in a mediator to help the two sides reach a deal.

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway sent a letter to the community expressing his frustration over the situation and provided a link with guidelines for students, as well as for faculty and staff, on what to know during a strike.