the rift between Rutgers University and its unionized workers is widening after the school's president Jonathan Holloway sent a letter to faculty and staff earlier this week telling them a strike by members could be met with legal action it comes after faculty staff and even medical workers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike as contract negotiations drag on the president's letter apparently adding fuel to the employee's fight senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports an unprecedented Court battle could be Brewing at New Jersey State University if three Rutgers staff Union go on strike over wages and job security facing a Statewide walkout by at least 8 800 Educators and medical workers Rutgers President John Holloway this week emailed employees and students in a letter stating the courts of rule that strikes by public employees are unlawful in New Jersey were taking all appropriate steps to mitigate any possible disruptions that a work action would have for you and most important for our students what he's saying is that if we decide to go on strike he's going to go to court and sue sue us to make us go back to work Jim Brown's an English professor at Rutgers Camden he says overwhelming strike authorization votes by professors part-time adjunct teachers and medical workers at the University followed months of fruitless negotiations and remained the Union's best tactical leverage with pressure building the University's response is a return shot across the bow it felt pretty transparent and attempt to to kind of manipulate people to to make people uh afraid and I think the result was not that it made people afraid but that it made people angry I think it I think it likely has backfired pretty significantly having him tell us now that this is his plan I guess going forward I feel like it's just made us more resolved to go forward to find some way to get what we think we deserve Adjunct professor Caitlin Carroll Dudek teaches writing at Rutgers Newark she says nobody wants to strike but that the unions believe it's not unlawful a Rutgers spokesperson says there's legal precedent here and that New Jersey's courts have stopped public worker strikes in the past but University professor and Union member Todd vishaw explains New Jersey state statute as well as the state constitution are actually silent on the matter of whether public sector strikes are legal so if there is a strike in progress the employer can go to the courts and ask for an injunction which would essentially be a cease and desist order ordering the employees to go back to work the Sean notes workers at colleges across the country like UCLA have gone on strike but that negotiations continued without universities suing the unions which would be a politically awkward option in a pro-union state like New Jersey for Sean sees another possibilities before getting to a strike there's the possibility of using the public employee relations commission to bring in a mediator the University's offering an 11 and a half percent raise over four years after professors asked for almost double that plus major wage hikes and job security for part-time adjunct professors and grad students Rutgers 1300 medical workers want better pay too says their Union Leader these are good people who do their work and they want to know that they can keep up at least with inflation you know and in a very expensive State and remember we're Healthcare faculty we're not going to affect patient care she says even if negotiations do end in a strike and legal battle her members will still care for patients and continue research Governor Murphy spokeswoman commented he holds New Jersey's public Workforce including Rutgers Educators and employees in the highest regard and is hopeful that negotiations between the two parties will be resolved fairly but Murphy did not mention Holloway's letter I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news [Music]