NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - If the students who were relaxing in between classes at the College Avenue Student Center on Monday are any indication, few are aware that their professors have authorized union leaders to call for an unprecedented strike.

The American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers, which represents 4,8000 full-time faculty and graduate employees, moved a step closer to the school’s first strike last week.

Faculty members have become increasingly frustrated by the contract talks that have dragged on for more than a year.

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University officials say they have met 33 times with the union since March 2018 and are scheduled to be two more times by the end of this month,

However, the students interviewed by TAPinto New Brunswick on Monday afternoon were unaware of the ongoing labor issues - or the fact their professors could walk off the job.

“I didn’t know about this," Zayna Ahmad, a junior, said.

Of the several students interviewed by TAPinto on Monday, only one - who did not want to be identified - said he was aware of the faculty’s looming strike.

“I think everybody is so busy with midterms and classes that they’re not worried about even world events right now,” he said. “They’re worried about going to class and getting your homework done.”





All of the students interviewed, however, said they would expect students to be more supportive of the faculty than the administration.

“I feel like they would be more sympathetic toward the faculty simply because we see them on an everyday basis,” said Lauren Bodnar, a freshman psychology major who was selling cookies and cupcakes outside the center to raise money for the Rutgers dance team. “They’re more relatable. You interact with them every day as opposed to the administration. They’re just kind of behind the scenes. You just hear of them.”

“I’m pretty sure if most people were in the know, they would know the financial positions the professors are in and the work hours that go into it,” said Stephen Nelson, a senior journalism major. “Even though they get summers off, I think people, if they were in the know, would generally side with the faculty.