Senator Andrew Zwicker Endorsed by Rutgers Faculty and Grad Worker Union

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—A Rutgers University union representing some 6,000 faculty, graduate workers, postdocs, and counselors announced that it is endorsing state Senator Andrew Zwicker for reelection in November because of his shared commitment to protecting research and ensuring academic excellence at New Jersey’s public higher education institutions.

Rutgers AAUP-AFT worked closely with Zwicker, the state Senator for the 16th District and a Princeton University physicist, to craft legislation to fix New Jersey’s vastly inflated fringe benefit rate that has endangered research at Rutgers. Senator Zwicker guided the bill to a nearly unanimous passage in the Senate; the legislation is awaiting a final vote in the Assembly.

Researchers at Rutgers and other New Jersey public higher ed institutions pay a fringe benefit rate that is two and even three times higher than what researchers pay in other states. The state has provided funds over several years to offset the high fringe rate for some research, but a permanent, comprehensive fix, as Senator Zwicker has proposed, is badly needed, said union leaders—or Rutgers’ stature as a nationally respected research institution will be damaged.

“I am proud to have the support of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT, whose tireless organizing and advocacy is based on the fact that the strength of any world-class university begins with its staff,” said Senator Zwicker. “As a physicist and member of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, I am dedicated to ensuring that New Jersey leads the way nationally in public education, research, and advanced learning opportunities. I look forward to being a continued advocate for Rutgers AAUP-AFT, whether in Trenton or on the picket line.”

Todd Wolfson, president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT, said union members were mobilizing in the 16th District to talk to voters about the difference Senator Zwicker has made for Rutgers and for the labor movement. “The senator’s presence in Trenton has been indispensable for higher education,” Wolfson said. “He stands for priorities that our unions share: maintaining and advancing learning, research, and service—and he gets things done.”

“Senator Zwicker has been a powerful voice for higher education and labor issues,” said Matthew Buckley, an associate professor of Physics and Astronomy and chair of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT Legislative Committee. “He understands the importance of a world-class public research university for New Jersey.”

Wolfson said Zwicker was at the top of the list of more than a dozen officeholders and candidates endorsed by the union in the upcoming legislative elections—largely because of their sponsorship of the fringe rate legislation and support for other measures that are important to labor generally and higher ed labor in particular. Click here to see a full list of candidates endorsed by Rutgers AAUP-AFT.