“It is astonishing how similar the labor movements here and in the U.K. are – they’re more like us than they are like the rest of Europe,” said Lucye Millerand, president of the Union of Rutgers Administrators (URA). “Their model of union organizing shop by shop is very similar to ours, and the privatization of what was once the public sector is a huge issue for them, as it is here.”

"The Web site is loaded with items promoting the university, but as of Monday there was no mention of the employee unions' battle with university management over contract negotiations — an issue covered by most daily newspapers in the region."

Rob Newman, a member of the Union of Rutgers Administrators, hands out literature protesting the way Rutgers has dealt with the union and on-going negotiations. Union members handed out leaflets on College Ave. before President McCormick's Annual Address to the University Community. NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger)

By Ariel Nagi, Correspondent
Published: Sunday, September 27, 2009

Dressed in white jumpsuits, hard hats, construction vests and gas masks, Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers members stood in front of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus Friday, boycotting University President Richard L. McCormick’s annual address.
Calling the address the “Toxic Incident Site,” the union was protesting against management greed, which they said is hazardous to the University community.
URA-AFT Spokesman Nat Bender said University management broke their contract and froze negotiated raises using the general economy and projections of next year’s budget as an excuse, although the University’s overall funding continues to increase.
“The University’s management is not listening when we tell them that they are overreaching far beyond what thousands of committed workers at Rutgers might agree to as a fair trade-off between deferred raises and job security,” Bender said.

Rutgers University President Richard McCormick says the willingness of many unionized faculty and staff to defer raises has helped the university cope with the effects of the economic recession.

Rutgers and the Rutgers Council of American Association of University Professors, which represents professors and teaching assistants, agreed last month to defer until next year raises that were due in July.

McCormick made his remarks Friday during his annual address to the university _ an event that was the target of a boycott by another union that opposes the wage freeze.

Lucye Millerand, president of the Union of Rutgers Administrators, says management has disregarded workers' rights and shown no interest in dialogue with her group.

URA-AFT members Friday prior to president McCormick's annual address to the campus community.

September 24, 2009
Rutgers union in contract dispute boycotting university president's address
By SERGIO BICHAO, STAFF WRITER

From the campus office of one of the university's largest employee unions comes a "Top 10'' list of things to do Friday instead of attending President Richard L. McCormick's annual address.

Among the tongue-in-cheek suggestions posted on the Union of Rutgers Administrators' Web site: "Get your feet dirty trying to walk through the construction on Livingston Campus" and visit the Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway "to see the construction crew building a monument to where your raise went."

The humor behind the call to boycott the speech belies the union's anger and frustration at the administration, which froze their contractually-obligated salary increases in July and is seeking contractual give-backs from the union.

"University management has shown continual disregard for workers' rights, breaking contracts by unilaterally withholding raises while continuing with layoffs," URA-AFT president Lucye Millerand said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. "Since President McCormick has taken no action to establish a real dialogue, I see no value in listening to his prepared address."
See full article at www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090924/NEWS/909240328

-from http://www.dailytargum.com/news/union-to-boycott-president-s-address-1.1911341
Daily Targum > News
By Cagri Ozuturk
Associate News Editor
Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The contract negotiations between the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers and the University administrators have not reached a settlement yet, and the delay looks to continue, as the relationship seems to strain.
“When President [Richard L.] McCormick gives his State of the University speech on Friday, URA members will warn members and passersby to avoid the event as a toxic hazard,” URA-AFT Executive Vice President Nat Bender said.
Members of the URA-AFT plan to boycott McCormick’s address Friday at the University Senate meeting in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus.
“There are no developments in talks. We will not be going to the address for the health and safety of our members,” URA-AFT President Lucye Millerand said. “We will be informing our members that going to this address will cause them some symptoms, so they should go to more relaxing events instead like yoga on Livingston [campus].”

URA-AFT is boycotting president McCormick's address Friday (see http://www.uraaft.org/node/259). Here is what you could do instead:
10. 11:30-12:30 CAC. Rutgers Historical Tour. The walking tour, which takes about an hour, explores the origins of Rutgers, its traditions, and architectural points of interests. http://ruinfo.rutgers.edu/visitingRU/historictours
9. 12:00 – 2:00 Try to keep your head above water while taking a swim at the Golden Dome pool in Newark
8. 12:30-2:30 Join the Drawing Society Offering advanced and beginning artists an opportunity to draw both from live model & the Museum's vast collections http://ruevents.rutgers.edu/events/displayEvent.html?eventId=62764

...While the agreement leaves Rutgers AAUP-AFT members largely unscathed, other unions including the Union of Rutgers Administrators-AFT (URA-AFT) and two AFSCME locals representing university employees are still at the bargaining table and face more onerous cuts.

The URA-AFT represents 1,900 administrative employees. Lucye Millerand, its president, said she has been negotiating with Rutgers for more than two months, since “at the very beginning of July we were unilaterally notified that [the university] was not planning to pay any of our raises beginning with that month’s first paycheck.”

...URA-AFT President [Lucye] Millerand said her union has not reached a deal with officials because the university "wants relatively more in givebacks from our salary package than from the faculty."

by Brian Whitley/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday September 08, 2009, 7:24 PM
The Rutgers University faculty union approved an agreement with school officials Friday that staves off layoffs and other deep cuts by delaying two previously negotiated raises.

...Despite the perceived agreeable end to contract negotiations with the faculty, University administration is still in negotiations with the Union of Rutgers Administrators.
“We have had ongoing talks with management over the summer, and we have not come to an agreement. We’ve exchanged proposals but we are still quite a way apart,” President of the URA-AFT Lucye Millerand said. “Management as we understand is asking our members to give back more than they asked from the faculty. Our members make an average half of what the faculty makes.”

A group of 20 URA-AFT members and community supporters distributed the URA-AFT/AFSCME open letter (http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/laborday09) prior to Rutgers opening day football game, wishing attendees "Happy Labor Day."

By Ariel Nagi, Published: Monday, September 7, 2009
The Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers kicked-off the annual Labor Day campaign Saturday at Johnson Park in Piscataway with a picnic featuring live music, a barbeque and a visit from the governor.
The campaign was put together to celebrate workers organizing unions and standing up for negotiated contracts in the midst of an extremely challenging economy, URA-AFT Executive Vice President Nat Bender said.
Read the full article at http://www.dailytargum.com/university/governor-speaks-out-for-unions-at-local-picnic-1.1868584.