a. Nothing in this act shall be construed to deprive any officers or employees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who become employees of University Hospital of their rights, privileges, obligations, or status with respect to any pension, retirement, or health benefits system. The employees shall retain all of their rights and benefits under existing collective negotiations agreements or contracts until such time as new or revised agreements or contracts are agreed to and such employees shall continue to be represented by the majority representative that represented them as employees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey unless the employees choose to change their majority representative pursuant to law. University Hospital shall assume all obligations under existing or expired collective negotiations agreements that covered employees of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey on the effective date of this act and who become employees of University Hospital. Employees in an existing University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey negotiations unit who are transferred to or become employees of University Hospital shall be deemed to constitute an appropriate collective negotiations unit under the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L. 1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.).
Nothing in this act shall affect the civil service status, if any, of those officers or employees. Nothing in this act shall affect the tenure, rank, or academic track of any person holding a faculty position that is associated with University Hospital.