Going on right now at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is a faculty-organized teach-in to educate students & community on the history of labor struggle in the context of Occupy Wall Street and AFT's ongoing contract negotiation with the college. At 5pm there's a rally. Speakers include LD-31 Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell., Haledon Mayor (and AFT member) Domenick Stampone, and Marie Corfield, schoolteacher and 2011 LD-16 candidate for Assembly. - promoted by Rosi
152 days. That is the number of days the members of Raritan Valley Community College's faculty have been working without a contract. That is the number of days the Board of Trustees has stalled in offering AFT Local #2375 members a fair contract. Their offer to us hasn't changed: 0% raises for next year. But 0% isn't really 0%. A 0% raise is a 1.5% reduction for our members with the new health and pension reforms put into place by Governor Christie. And as these reforms phase in, this reduction in salary is going to get worse. The hardworking middle class members of the RVCC faculty don't deserve a pay reduction, not when so many of us are struggling to get by. Not when RVCC's President is one of the highest paid community college presidents in New Jersey with compensation over $245,000/year including a car and housing allowance, while the RVCC faculty salaries rank 9th out of the 19 NJ community colleges!
We need shared sacrifice, not hollow offers.
RVCC is a great place to learn and it provides an excellent education to residents of Central New Jersey. And don't just take my word for it. Reader's Digest recently listed RVCC as a top ten "Affordable Colleges for your child to consider." This wasn't a list of just community colleges. It was all colleges. Our faculty is the driving force in making RVCC "student centered, led by idealists, and [displaying] good core values," - as Reader's Digest commented.
And it isn't just Reader's Digest making these observations. The Atlantic recently commented on the prestige our faculty enjoys:
In fact, it's possible to get a fine bachelor's degree at a reasonable cost and without going into debt. But students and their parents will have to stop thinking that name-brand prestige assures academic quality. The reverse is often true: professors who are rewarded for research are less likely to spend time with undergraduates. One offshoot of the PhD glut is that excellent teachers have taken positions at two-year colleges and regional branches of public systems. Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey, Western Oregon State University, and University of Maryland's Baltimore County campus are a few we've visited and were impressed with what we saw.
Our faculty are dedicated professionals and highly educated, having a minimum of a Master's Degree in their discipline. Over 45% of RVCC's faculty have a doctorate, Ph.D. or terminal degree in their field. They are teaching at RVCC because they love working with students, not for the paycheck. But that doesn't mean we don't deserve fair compensation. As we've said before, we understand times are tough. That doesn't mean the cuts should all fall on the faculty.
Today we'll once again be voicing our displeasure with the Board of Trustees prior to their annual meeting. Various members of the faculty are holding a "Teach-in" to educate students on Student and Labor activism across the world and the importance of affordable public education and fair compensation. At 5:00 PM Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell will be joining us for a rally of students, alumni, and faculty. We are proud to have a strong fighter for middle class values standing with us on the front lines. You can get more information and RSVP for the event on our Facebook page. With so much emphasis on unemployment in our society, the Board needs to remember that teachers are job creators.
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