‘Pissed Off’ Murphy Wants Rutgers Faculty Strike To End 'ASAP'

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy did not hide his anger Monday afternoon when reporters asked about the unprecedented Rutgers faculty strike, currently leaving about 67,000 RU students across the state unable to attend classes. It is considered the largest strike in American university history.

The governor stressed he will not back down from a "lock-the-door, throw-away-the-key" mentality to force both sides to reach compromise.

"I'm not happy it's gotten to this point. I said this to them, to both sides. The message is simple: I'm not happy it's come to this. Figure this out ASAP. Period. That's the message."

"We need to get a resolution here. If we don't get a resolution, there are many losers, including the many, many thousands of students who go to Rutgers," said the governor. "And that would be a really bad, bad outcome."

When a reporter asked how Rutgers students and parents may feel today, Murphy answered tersely:

"They're pissed off and so am I."

Earlier Monday, Murphy called a sit-down meeting between himself, faculty union president Rebecca Givan and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway. Murphy was in the meeting, and then left to field questions from the media.

Givan told fellow union members Monday night she is hearing that Holloway may seek a court injunction to force the professors back to work, on the grounds that public employees in America cannot go on strike. Holloway and Rutgers administration have not commented on this.

The strike is poised to continue into Day 2, as negotiations between professors and administration will most likely go into Monday night.

"It is a long process, and will likely continue into the evening," Alan Maass, a spokesman for the Rutgers faculty union, said late Monday afternoon.

A handful of Rutgers professors who are not in the union are continuing to teach — no Rutgers professor is required to join the union — but the "vast majority" of professors are striking, said Maass. About 9,000 professors are in the union and refusing to teach.

Also, Murphy hinted that labor negotiations — and thus the strike — could continue for the next few days.

"Let's see how it plays out over the next couple of days. I expect a fair deal for both parties ASAP," stressed the governor, putting emphasis on the words "ASAP."

"I'm not happy it's come to this. I'd be lying if I said otherwise," the governor said again. '"That's why we said yesterday everybody is going to come into a room and we’ll do a version of locking the door and throwing the key away until we come up with a solution ... I was back and forth with labor leaders all day yesterday (Sunday)."

One of the key demands from the union is pay increases for what the university calls "adjunct part-time lecturers." Rutgers employs many part-time lecturers to teach its classes, and they are far cheaper to employ than a full-time tenured professor.

A Rutgers part-time lecturer makes around $5,800 for a typical three-credit course. Tenured and tenure-track faculty start at Rutgers at $80,000 to $105,000 a year.

Another group Rutgers relies on to teach classes are graduate students, who make $30,000 a year, which the union says is not enough to live on in New Jersey.

The union wants pay increases overall, including for full-time professors.

"Pay part-time lecturers at the same rate per credit hour as non-tenured full-time professors teaching the same classes," said Maass. "The key issue is equal pay for equal work."

NJ.com has a good breakdown of all the demands from the faculty union, and what the university has offered in counter: https://www.nj.com/rutgers/202...

Murphy also said he personally has been involved in labor talks between Rutgers and its professors "for months."

"We've not been in rooms where negotiations take place," said the governor. "But I think the very force of our office in the room basically with a 'lock the door, throw away the key' mentality has the potential to move the needle."

Murphy speaks on the Rutgers faculty strike, taking questions from the media beginning at the 28:00 mark:

At 8 p.m. Monday, union president Givan will host a townhall where she will give an update to the public on negotiations; you can watch it here:

Read more:

Murphy Hosts Noon Meeting With Rutgers Faculty, Admin As Strike Begins

Rutgers University Strike: What It Means (April 10)

Rutgers Professors Agree To Strike If New Contracts Cannot Be Reached (March 10)