After declaring an impasse in August, the Brookdale Adjunct Faculty Chapter of AFT Local 2222 held a rally Sept. 15 near Brookdale Community College’s library to inform students and the public about the status of their contract negotiations, which began in April 2025.
BAFC President Joan Carroll briefly talked about the years prior to the Brookdale adjuncts unionizing, and she recalled settling their first contract in 2022. Carroll was followed by BAFC Vice President Chris Pflaum, who spoke in depth about adjuncts wanting to establish a seniority-based course assignment system in their next contract. He said the administration, citing “too much work,” turned down the proposal at the bargaining table.
“The offer we propose will cost the college not a penny more,” Pflaum said. “It provides for more stability for both our adjuncts and full-time faculty, who work hand in hand together. It works for students, who will know where to find us in the future to request letters of recommendation or to get advice. It works for the college because they will get all of these benefits at no additional cost.”
AFT New Jersey President Jennifer S. Higgins called out Brookdale Community College’s lack of respect for adjunct faculty.
“Those who have taught at Brookdale for over a decade make exactly the same as someone who has been teaching here for the first time,” Higgins said. “Why? Because the administration says it’s too hard to have more than one level of pay for adjuncts. … Every other unionized college in this state is able to pay experienced adjunct faculty more.”
She added, “The BAFC and AFT New Jersey have been bargaining in good faith to improve working conditions for adjunct faculty we represent because we know that a teacher’s working conditions are the students’ learning conditions.”
Read more coverage of the Brookdale Adjunct Faculty Chapter campus rally here.
TOP: AFT Local 2222 Treasurer Nancy Merrill and two Brookdale Community College students listen as AFT New Jersey President Jennifer S. Higgins speaks Sept. 15 during the Brookdale Adjunct Faculty Chapter rally near the campus library.
ABOVE: BAFC leaders and members, AFTNJ personnel and Brookdale Community College students gather to chant “Adjuncts teach! Adjuncts serve! Give adjuncts what they deserve!” at the rally’s conclusion. (Photos by Chris M. Junior)
