Rutgers adjunct faculty work with thousands of students each day, but unlike other faculty and staff on campus, we do not have access to affordable health insurance through the university. Though we teach a full 30 percent of the undergraduate classes at Rutgers each semester, Rutgers does not provide us with no-cost or even affordable healthcare coverage. In fact, it explicitly denied us this coverage at the start of the Covid pandemic. Today, Rutgers refuses to even test vaccinated students, faculty, and staff. As adjuncts, our only option is to “buy in” to a Rutgers insurance plan—but the rates are roughly equal to what we’re paid to teach a full semester-long course. Because of this, many of us go without medical insurance or are forced to pick up second (or third) jobs in order to pay for healthcare coverage. 

Rutgers adjuncts have had enough. This year, the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union (PTLFC-AAUP-AFT) is fighting for multi-year contracts, job security, a path to full-time employment, and—most importantly amid an ongoing pandemic—access to affordable healthcare. It’s time for the university to treat us as members of the beloved community that President Holloway so loves to invoke. We are not simply a disposable workforce—or disposable people—to be abandoned at the first hint of a (false) financial crisis while the university funnels hundreds of millions into athletics debt. Rutgers adjunct faculty and the students we serve are more than revenue streams: We are the heart of this university and integral to public higher ed in New Jersey. 

#RutgersAdjunctsSpeak Event: “Confronting the Gig Academy”

The Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, Sunrise Movement Rutgers New Brunswick, Rutgers Students for Justice in Palestine, and RU Progressive are thrilled to invite you to our panel discussion, “Confronting the Gig Academy at Rutgers” on November 19 at 2:30 pm!

We will hear stories from adjunct faculty about our experiences at Rutgers and consider how the corporate model of education harms our students. We’ll talk about “adjunctification” and how it fits into broader movements for labor justice, including #Striketober. And we will open the floor for students and community members to discuss how our working conditions affect students’ learning conditions. 

Register here, or scan the QR code below!