Our Vision: 

We want to build a bold, democratic, and forward-looking union — one that brings us together, amplifies our voices, and stands ready to take on every challenge with strength and solidarity.

Building a Strong Foundation: A powerful union starts with a solid foundation built on transparency, participation, and respect.

• Respect: We are committed to a culture of mutual respect. Members’ privacy will be protected, and bullying, yelling, or divisive behavior will not be tolerated. Community makes us stronger.
• Office Hours: Dedicated time to listen to members—identifying the issues that matter most to them and ensuring their concerns guide our priorities.
• Accessible Meetings: All meetings will be open and streamed online so every member can participate, regardless of location or schedule.
• Contract Education: Understanding our contract is key to a strong Union. When every member knows their rights, we’re all better equipped to bargain powerfully and to address violations through the grievance process.
• Budget Evaluation & Education: Members will have access to independent analyses of the university’s budget, with clear explanations of how financial decisions affect us all.
• Equal Access: Every member deserves full access to union benefits and representation. No one will be excluded, silenced, or bullied out of participation.

Advocating for What Members Need: We deserve more than crumbs!

• Member-Driven Goals & Transparency: Members deserve a say in setting our locals’ goals, and a way to regularly review leadership progress toward those goals.
• Proactive Issue Anticipation: The union will anticipate and monitor emerging issues—including WPO, strategic planning processes, potential reassignments, and reorganizations—and clearly communicate with members their implications for RTP and other key areas.
• New Strategic Negotiations: We will introduce new techniques (such as open bargaining and power mapping) into the local and state bargaining processes, making them more collective and transparent. Bargaining must be grounded in members’ needs and wants, not in what is most convenient for the administration.
  • Locally, we will prioritize (1) increased ART, (2) bringing back program release time, and (3) support for potential reassignments and mergers at WP.
  • At the state level, we must prioritize AI protections, pay parity for adjunct faculty, pathways to tenure for NTTPs, and clarity to the retrenchment process so that the administration does not hold all the power.
• Workload and KPI Protections: The union will address systemic overwork and challenge unreasonable KPIs for staff, advocating for fair workload expectations that respect members’ time, well-being, and professional development.
• Full rights for Adjunct Faculty: Adjunct faculty deserve full membership for the academic year, even when their course is canceled. We want a lower flat fee for adjunct faculty, and a removal of the 6-month membership requirement to serve in office.
• Member-Driven Meetings: Union meetings must be genuine conversations where we collectively identify problems and develop solutions.
• Democratic and Transparent Selection of Delegates to NJ-AFT and CNJSCL.

Shaping Our Future Together: We envision a university where we want to work: a place grounded in shared governance, academic freedom, and respect for all workers.

• We bring a new vision, new skills, and new energy to meet the realities of higher education today—at William Paterson and beyond—and to prepare us for the challenges ahead.
• Building future leadership is key. External Union trainings and workshops will be available for all interested members. Term limits will ensure we avoid the problem of entrenched leadership.
• We believe that our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. Our students will benefit from a stronger faculty and staff.
• We are committed to building a community rooted in mutual interest and respect, rather than fear, division, and insecurity.