BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Hundreds of faculty members at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University rallied Wednesday as they seek a new contract.

According to the American Federation of Teachers, the teachers were locked out when their contract expired on September 1, and won't get paid or get health insurance.

The union says replacement workers were hired to take over when classes started Wednesday.

The AFT is pushing for 640 faculty members in Brooklyn to get higher salaries that are more in line with what teachers make at the school's Long Island campus. Another issue, faculty members say, is limits on academic freedom.

"Management is seeking to take more and more control even over curricula matters away from the faculty. Quite frankly they are not as qualified as we are," said LIU Brooklyn English Dept. Chair Srividhya Swaminathan.

The school has an enrollment of about 8,000 thousand, mostly black, Hispanic and first generation college students.

"It's my education. It's my future. What am I going to do if my future is disturbed? It's going to affect me," said Muhammad Mirani, an LIU pharmacy student.

"This is unprecedented in higher education in the United States. We can't go to teach. We want to teach," said Deborah Mutnick, an LIU English professor.

LIU says it is still negotiating, but wants to make sure its students continue classes without interruption.

"The university decided this time we were going to take a proactive stance. Committed to students to open the semester on schedule and in a normal fashion," added LIU Brooklyn Vice President and COO Gale Stevens-Haynes.

The administration says the union caused the wage disparity by how it has distributed past increases. It also says salaries at the Brooklyn campus are higher than at some other area colleges.

School officials say they have no plans to end the lockout anytime soon.

Both sides are set to go back to the bargaining table on Thursday.

