Dear colleague,
We are all concerned about the safety of our campus and community as more and more of us return to in-person work and anticipate mostly in-person instruction and fully reopened labs in the Fall. The coronavirus pandemic remains a dire threat, but we are heartened by the ongoing successes of vaccination in offering protection for our communities.
Our union welcomes the Rutgers administration’s early decision to require students who live or attend classes on campuses to be vaccinated and commend President Holloway for his outreach to student government before making that decision. Our Executive Council passed a resolution at its meeting earlier this month endorsing a similar requirement for full-time faculty, postdocs, and grad workers represented by our union, provided there is compliance with legal and medical causes for exemptions, and related requests for accommodation are approved.
We’ve also engaged with the administration to get access to vaccination expanded throughout the communities we serve. We recognize that our health and safety is linked with the health and safety of the communities surrounding our campuses, and we are collaborating with community partners to get Rutgers’ agreement to expand access to vaccinations for our neighbors. Rutgers has a special contribution to make in this great public health crisis of our time—but only if we recognize our wider responsibilities to everyone in our communities.
In solidarity,
Todd and Becky
P.S. Please sign a petition in support of our postdoc colleagues who are still fighting for a living-wage contract nearly two years after the last one expired. Send a message to Rutgers to treat these valuable members of our community with respect, dignity, and equity.
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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