Political Power

PSC members are engaged in an ongoing endorsement process. We'll be posting the union's endorsements for City Council positions as they are finalized.

The union is partnering with other unions and organizations like the Working Families Party to grow the bloc of progressive New York City Council members. A stronger group of pro-union, pro-family, pro-CUNY council members could lead a charge to invest in the public good, protect critical services, and demand a fair share of taxes from the 1%. CUNY would thrive in an environment like that: City funding could be increased to keep pace with enrollment, and our physical plant could be repaired and improved.

PSC Supports These Candidates for State Office in Contested Primaries

PSC is proud to support Toby Ann Stavisky (left) for re-election to the State Senate. Last April she protested Governor Cuomo’s drive to establish a poorer public pension for new employees—she walked out rather than vote with the Senate Republicans. Here she is meeting with PSC's First VP Steven London and PSC VP of Cross-Campus Units Iris DeLutro.

UPDATE
In the Thursday, September 13 Primary Election, candidates endorsed by NYSUT and the PSC won races throughout the City. View the list of New York City area State legislative primary results here. PSC focused on supporting Senators Adriano Espaillat, Gustavo Rivera and Toby Stavisky and Assembly Members Rhoda Jacobs, Michael Miller and Naomi Rivera in their contested primaries because of their commitment to CUNY and their opposition to Tier 6, the new state pension plan that has reduced retirement benefits for new public employees. All but Rivera prevailed. We also supported Assembly candidates Nathan Bradley (a challenger in the 55th District) and Luis Sepulveda (running for an open seat in the 87th District). Sepulveda won. Bradley failed to oust Assembly Member William Boyland Jr.

Click "Read more" to see endorsement letters for each candidate from the PSC.

George Patterson from Hunter College phone banks union households for the Nov 6, 2012 election.

We sincerely hope you have all been able to come through Hurricane Sandy unscathed. The PSC office is open as of Monday, November 5, but it has no phone or internet service. As a result, the Monday evening phone bank is cancelled, but volunteers are encouraged to make calls from home via the AFL-CIO's online system.

If you click here (or the hot links below), you will find two sets of instructions on how you can participate from Kate Pfordresher, who is coordinating the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) operation for the PSC:

1. Making calls from home through the AFL-CIO's on-line program.

2. Other ways you can participate including phone banking at the UAW, phone banking using the Obama site and/or poll watching on election day (as coordinated by the NYC Central Labor Council).

[Confusion about where to vote? Click here for information on "How to Find Your Polling Place."]

Our Brooklyn College and Queensborough Community College chapters were honored by NYSUT for their impressive contributions to building the union's collective voice and power. Here Chapter Chairs Alex Vitale (Brooklyn) and Judy Barbanel (QCC) accept the awards on behalf of their chapters.