AFT New Jersey President Jennifer S. Higgins joined longtime adjunct professors Carl Gunhouse and Tom Moomjy on May 18 in Trenton to give testimony about adjuncts’ lack of access to affordable health insurance and their problems with filing for unemployment insurance.
Gunhouse spoke first, telling the New Jersey Senate Higher Education Committee about his difficulty last year acquiring written notification from Montclair State University that he would be out of work in summer 2025 and not “between academic terms,” which would have excluded him from unemployment eligibility. He eventually received confirmation in writing, but Gunhouse’s unemployment claim was still challenged by Montclair’s third-party human resources firm, which said that he was between academic terms. Three appeal hearings followed, and roughly a year after the ordeal began, he’s still waiting for a final appeal hearing on his summer 2025 UI claim.
“I testify here today to ask that the State of New Jersey demands that higher education institutions comply with the requirements to notify the state when adjuncts are unemployed and provide a reason for their unemployment,” Gunhouse said in closing. “I also believe that there should be a system where adjuncts can streamline the process for applying for unemployment benefits — a process that will hopefully give adjuncts a little bit of financial clarity over the summer semester and avoid long, drawn-out and costly unemployment appeals.”
Moomjy followed, and he went into detail about his hospital stay in winter 2019 that cost more than $30,000. Without health insurance, he had to pay it all out of pocket, depleting his life savings.
“At that time, I was teaching at both Rutgers and at Raritan Valley Community College,” Moomjy said. “And despite the fact that I was working well over 40 hours a week when you include office hours [and] grading, my status as a part-time worker at multiple institutions prevented me from qualifying for subsidies — there’s no way to aggregate the benefits. And even though adjuncts currently at least have some degree of access to the [State Health Benefits Plan], we have to pay full cost, plus an additional three percent administrative fee.”
“All workers who pay their taxes should have equal access to unemployment insurance and affordable health insurance,” Higgins said. “As Tom’s and Carl’s testimony mentions, although adjunct faculty work on a contingent basis, many are actually working full-time across multiple public education institutions. … And yet, despite their hard work, they struggle to make ends meet, afford healthcare [and] access unemployment insurance when they need it.” She then offered a series of recommendations addressing the issues.
As the meeting was winding down, Sen. Joseph P. Cryan, the committee’s chair, said, “We’ll work with staff and start drafting some things, at least on UI fairness [and] health … and see what we can do about getting some legislation put together.”
Earlier in the same meeting, Kean University President Dr. Lamont O. Repollet provided an update on the merger with New Jersey City University. Repollet said Kean remained committed “to collaborating with organized labor throughout this process.”
He added, “We have engaged in ongoing dialogue with labor leaders locally and statewide. We have listened carefully, we have maintained open communication, and we have worked collectively to navigate these challenges responsibly and respectfully.”
ABOVE: Tom Moomjy (left) and fellow adjunct professor Carl Gunhouse listen to AFT New Jersey President Jennifer S. Higgins as she addresses the N.J. Senate Higher Education Committee on May 18 in Trenton. (Photo by Jennie Shanker)
