150 Clinicians employed at RWJBarnabas Health have voted to join the American Association of University Professors-Biomedical Health Sciences of New Jersey (AAUP-BHSNJ). RWJBarnabas is a network of independent Health Care Providers in New Jersey, and after a 2018 agreement forged with Rutgers University, it became the largest Academic Health System in the State. Clinically Focused University Practitioners (CFUPs) are Physician Faculty Members with 10% employment at Rutgers and 90% employment at RWJBarnabas. This role was created during the COVID-19 Pandemic, depriving Academic Physicians of the Union-negotiated benefits and protections that their 100% Rutgers-employed Colleagues in the exact same departments and clinics enjoyed. They were previously excluded from Union representation, a move the Union decried as illegal. CFUPs faced intimidation as management attempted to suppress Union support, but ultimately they emerged victorious in their fight for equal benefits and protections. “We do not tolerate Union Busting or creating new inequities in the workforce,” said Todd Wolfson, the National President of the AAUP and Local President of the Rutgers AAUP. “The corporatization of academic medicine has worsened Physician working conditions, patient care and the training of medical students and residents. The AAUP and our Physician Faculty Members are going to change that. We are already hearing from other RWJBH Physicians about wanting to join our Union and we welcome them with open arms.”

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