Members of AFT Local 1796’s leadership team attended the AFTNJ Convention and Legislative Conference on April 27, 2024, where Sue Tardi ran uncontested in her bid to remain AFTNJ’s Executive Vice President, Higher Education, a seat she has held since 2011. Congratulations, Sue!
L to R: Vince Vicari, Cindy Simon, Tom Nemeth, Sue Tardi, Terry Finnegan
Our Local’s grievances team has achieved a significant victory in a PERC case related to the recent layoffs at William Paterson. Sue Tardi, Chriss Williams, and Giuliana Andreopoulos requested information from Allison Boucher-Jarvis, V.P. for Human Resources, regarding all internal communications involving discussions of the layoffs. They were informed that no such information existed. The team then contacted CNJSCL President Tim Haresign and Staff Representatives Bruce Howard and Anthony Giardullo, requesting that the issue be brought to Council attorney Kevin McGovern. Another request was made to VP Boucher-Jarvis, who then stated that the information was “privileged.” Attorney McGovern filed a PERC case, and after months of postponements, the case was heard and resolved in favor of the Union. Upon reviewing the documents, the PERC Hearing Officer determined that the documents were not privileged and had to be provided to the Union.
Read the Hearing Examiner’s filing
This victory is not only significant for Union leadership but is also crucial for the victims of the layoffs awaiting arbitration, as well as for our members and the principles of unionism as a whole!
After a prolonged period of hard-fought negotiations and successful voting outreach, our members overwhelmingly voted in favor of the proposed 2023-2027 Agreements with the state of New Jersey. The ’23-’27 FT/PT Employee MOA and ’23-’27 Adjunct Faculty MOA are now available on our Documents page, along with the associated ’23-’27 FT/PT Salary Charts.
Among William Paterson AFT members who voted, 96.9% of FT/PT members voted in favor of ratification, as did a whopping 100% of Adjunct Faculty! Combined, 97.7% of WPU voters were in favor. Statewide, 98.48% of FT/PT AFT members voted in favor of ratification, as did 96.87% of adjuncts.
The unmistakably positive voting results speak to the strength of the negotiated gains in the Contract, which Council summarized at the beginning of the Agreements linked above. The negotiating team worked tirelessly throughout 2023 to secure a Contract that not only recognizes the dedication and hard work of our union members but also addresses the evolving needs and challenges within the higher education landscape. The Contract is a result of extensive discussions and compromises to ensure that it reflects the best interests of our diverse membership.
AFT leadership is proud of this excellent Contract and is grateful for members’ continued support of our union. We could only achieve these gains through members’ collective strength, dedication, and resolve.
Turning the page on 2023, our Local’s leadership team wishes all members a peaceful, joyful, and restful holiday season as we look forward to making further labor progress in the new year.
We ratified changes to our Constitution at our December 14th meeting. The revisions involved:
The amended Constitution can be found in the main section of our Documents page, while its previous iteration has been moved to the same page’s Recent Historical Documentation section.
AFT Local 1796 has collaborated with WPU’s HR department to devise new retirement and separation incentives for 2024. You can read them on HR’s website, along with an FAQ. According to HR, “Eligible employees may apply, and the University will approve applications contingent upon its operational needs and the fiscal impact of a proposed transition/separation. Please note that the University is not likely to approve applications from employees in high demand programs such as Nursing and Speech Language Pathology.”
For complete details, please refer to HR’s email announcement dated October 11th, 2023.