a labor of strike looms at the state's largest university where demonstrations by Rutgers union members this week reached a Tipping Point workers say they're running out of patience as negotiations over new contracts and higher pay carry into another month the protests spilling over and into a meeting of the University's top leaders senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan was there and has the latest members of Rutgers Union's angry over stalled contract talks burst through a side door and disrupted a meeting where University Chief Financial Officer Michael Gower had expected to discuss Rucker's budget but the protest quickly shut it down University officials exited leaving the frustrated unions no closer to a resolution Amy hikers voted to strike she's an adjunct professor and we teach the same courses as full-time non-tenure track faculty we get paid less than half of what they get paid so we're asking for equal pay for equal work Executive Vice President Gower is the man that's in charge of the money and all we hear is that there is no money and we firmly disagree they give themselves raises and somehow the rest of us don't have the same opportunity three unions representing some 8 800 Educators and medical workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after negotiations dragged on for months ten-year teachers want raises but also demand living wages and job security for part-time adjunct professors and graduate students like lyanna Katz Rutgers pays her twenty five thousand dollars for nine months of work it's very hard a lot of us you know need to have financial support if we can get it from our families maybe need to work other jobs and others are making really difficult decisions between whether they can pay rent and buy groceries the university said in a statement we remain committed to working as hard as we possibly can to negotiate contracts with our unions that are fair reasonable and responsible we're in intensive negotiating sessions with our unions and continue to make offers and respond to counteroffers in good faith but the unions have lost trust what we've seen over the last couple years is that Rutgers has gained in their unrestricted reserves by about 300 million dollars and they've been spending like a drunk sailor on Athletics so now that workers are saying it's time for us to get paid fairly during historic inflation now is the moment they crack poor they are public employees and if the unions do strike Rutgers President John holloways indicated he could ask a judge for an injunction ordering the workers back on the job but a letter to Rutgers president for more than 75 self-described labor social justice and black Freedom struggle Scholars asks Holloway to rescind your administration's threat to use the power of injunction to punish fine and arrest workers taking job actions and work with the campus unions toward a just and fair contract it all also invites Holloway to reconsider his chief contract negotiator David Cohen who's widely viewed as anti-labor Rutgers reply addressed neither request but only stated we're doing everything we can to avoid a strike we're in intensive negotiating sessions with our unions and are making significant progress the unions remain adamant I do not think an injunction in and of itself would stop these unions from fighting for a fair contract the Union's biggest Leverage is to strike during the last month of the school year in April in New Brunswick I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news