Shit I've been going through w/ Rutgers the last 9 months is so exhausting. I try to be transparent here, but sometimes I just wanna scream! Got more crappy news about the grievance the union filled for me today and it's just to recap: the grievance asks for around $12k to make me whole -- the medical bills (which I'm donating back to charity) & lump sum for spring. Would've been teaching 2 courses & was kept from it by the inane 99 day investigation--then exonerated completely, but no income for spring. Anyway, investigation report comes out feb. 24, we file grievance within 45 days of that date as is the rule.
we're grieving the entire process, lost income, etc. but needed the report finalized to actually know what we're grieving in detail obvi. Rutgers admin rejects the grievance on grounds of timeliness, says 45 day clock started on 11/17 when they placed me on admin leave. Union chapter president appeals their rejection, escalates grievance to next step: admin rejects again based on timeliness. So now union lawyers have to determine whether it's even cost effective to arbitrate the grievance in the hopes of making them to consider. Which doesn't even mean we'd win -- it JUST MEANS THEY WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT THE GRIEVANCE ITSELF. and then they could just say NOPE again. What's the point of any of this bureaucracy when admin doesn't have to follow any actual rules bc they set the parameters of the rules????
(That's rhetorical. I know the answer. I'm just trying to prove a point.)
& Rutgers has a great union (some schools don't even have that)...but what's the point when admin can overrule the union at all times????