Adjunct IssuesAFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsLabor NewsNews

AFTNJ supports unemployment bill for adjuncts

Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham this week introduced legislation that would enable adjunct professors to collect unemployment benefits — specifically, that adjuncts may not be refused these benefits during a summer, holiday or vacation break without “highly probable” assurance of reinstatement, reports Insider NJ.

It’s a bill that’s significant for multiple reasons, according to AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera.

“In the past decade, institutions of higher education began to hire more adjunct faculty/part-time lecturers to educate students,” Chiera said. “In many cases these professionals bring valuable real-life experiences to their classroom. At the same time, management viewed them not as professionals but as a cost-saving measure. This legislation not only begins to acknowledge them as the professionals they are, it allows them to receive a benefit in which they pay into.”

Click here to read more.