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FAQs - URA-AFT
- Who is in the bargaining unit represented by URA-AFT?
The bargaining unit is delineated as follows: All regularly employed administrative employees, employed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey at its New Brunswick, Piscataway, Newark, and Camden campuses and all field locations.List of Bargaining Unit Titles
All employees within these titles are members of the URA-AFT bargaining unit.Certain categories of employees are excluded from the bargaining unit. They are:
all managerial executive employees, supervisory employees (as to administrative unit employees), professional employees, confidential employees, casual employees, temporary employees, T-coded employees, term contract employees, police employees, faculty, employees whose inclusion presents a conflict of interest (e.g. Internal Auditors and Claims Managers), employees currently represented in other collective negotiations units, and all other employees. - What is the effect of inclusion in the bargaining unit?
Inclusion in the bargaining unit will result in certain terms and conditions of employment, such as wages, benefits and work rules, being subject to and determined by collective negotiations between Rutgers and the URA-AFT. Those terms and conditions will then be set forth in the union contract and they may not be modified on a per-individual basis between an employee and his/her department.
- What is the difference between inclusion in the bargaining unit and membership in the union?
The bargaining unit is the group of employees on behalf of which the URA-AFT collectively negotiates with the University regarding terms and conditions of employment. All employees in the titles represented by URA-AFT are included in the bargaining unit and therefore receive those specified terms and conditions of employment.
Bargaining unit members have the right, if they so choose, to become members of the union. Union membership is a personal choice that is left to each individual; union membership does not have any effect on a bargaining unit member’s receipt of the terms and conditions of employment provided by the union contract.
- What about union dues?
It is within the sole and exclusive discretion of the URA-AFT to determine the amount of the dues to be collected from each union member. The law provides that individuals who are bargaining unit members but who do not become union members may be required to pay a representation fee. The amount of the representation fee is established by the URA-AFT, however pursuant to State law it cannot be more than 85% of the dues charged to union members.
- How will this affect salaries for bargaining unit members for FY08?
Salaries and salary enhancements are terms and conditions of employment that are to be addressed through the collective negotiations process. The University and the URA-AFT have begun negotiations. When negotiations have concluded and the agreement is ratified by the members of URA-AFT, a contract will be signed and Departments will be advised of the terms and conditions of employment that are specified in the contract, as well as the effective dates thereof.
- When will all of this take effect?
The URA-AFT was certified as the majority representative for the bargaining unit described above on June 7, 2007. Collective negotiations for an initial collective agreement have begun. The parties will meet at reasonable times and negotiate in good faith, and will do so until negotiations are concluded.
- What happens in the meantime?
All practices, policies and procedures constituting terms and conditions of employment will remain in effect unless they are modified by the provisions of the collective agreement.
For these purposes, “confidential” is defined as employees whose functional responsibilities or knowledge in connection with the issues involved in the collective negotiations process would make their membership in any appropriate negotiating unit incompatible with their official duties; “professional” is defined as those whose work is: 1) predominantly intellectual and varied; 2) involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment; and 3) requires knowledge of an advanced nature of the field of physical, biological or social sciences, or in the field of learning/education.
