Who We Are
We are the Brookdale Adjunct Faculty Chapter (BAFC), American Federation of Teachers Local 2222 (AFT-NJ, AFT, AFL-CIO). We are teachers at Brookdale Community College (BCC) who are not hired on a full-time basis. In fact, the majority of teachers at BCC—72%—are part-time adjunct faculty.
Many of us have the same credentials as our full-time colleagues. One out of every three adjuncts who have taught at BCC in the past five years have taught loyally for over 10 years. While we are dedicated to our students' success, we earn less than half of what our full-time colleagues earn per credit hour. We have no promise of future work, no benefits, and cannot live on our BCC income. This is why many of us teach at multiple schools or juggle multiple jobs.
What We're Doing for Our Members
We are currently in negotiations for our second contract with Brookdale, having reached an impasse. The college has issued a "last and final" offer, but it does not come close to meeting the financial needs of some of our members who are the lowest-paid faculty members at Brookdale. We are fighting for raises that are not tied to the full-time faculty overload rate.
We've already made progress on several tentative agreements, including:
- Ensuring adjunct faculty are paid for their office hours if teaching during a 7- or 11-week term.
- Allowing one in-person class per semester to be taught asynchronously.
- Ensuring you do not lose union protections if you take on other work at the school.
We are holding urgent town hall meetings to discuss the last and final offer and need your input on how to move forward. We are also circulating a petition and planning other campaign events like leafletting and a rally.
How to Become a Member
If you'd like to support the union's work on your behalf, please consider becoming a member. Only members can vote on the formal ratification of the contract.
To become a member, you can fill out the BAFC membership application form. You can return the completed and signed form to our Membership Chair, Dr. Gerry O'Reilly, at memch.bafc@gmail.com.
