Christine O’Connell

As President of the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers (URA-AFT), Local 1766 since Jan. 2019, Christine has fought through a successful 15 month contract campaign, dozens of grievances and unfair labor practices, and is now trying to navigate her members through an unprecedented global pandemic.  She represents over 2,700 Rutgers employees who work in every department of the University as administrative assistants, student counselors, accounting and business specialists, and specialized services like dining, maintenance, and housing.  

Previously Christine worked as the Lead Organizer for URA-AFT for 3 years, served on the Grievance, Organizing, Health and Safety committees and was a lead steward and an executive board member.  She is a Higher Ed VP for AFTNJ and a vice president on the Middlesex AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2014 after a 25 year hiatus from her formal education to raise her 5 children and completed her Masters in Communication Information Science in 2015.  Now she is just tired.