PSC News
and Updates

weekly calendar.  

3/1/10 UPDATE -- WHAT'S NEXT?  BUDGET -- WHAT'S NEXT?  Click here for information on 3/1-2 testimony and lobbying in Albany and 3/4 NYC march in defense of public education as part of a national day of action.

1/25/10 UPDATE: PSC IN FORCE IN ALBANY THIS WEEK.  PSC members and leaders will be in Albany this week, making the case for the union’s smarter strategy for New York State: adopt a “rational investment” plan of steady, escalating State and City money to help public higher education recover from years of underfunding, rebuild New York’s economy and pave the road to a secure future for our state.  Details.  Click the "Act Now" logo (to the left) to send a letter to your NYS legislators, adding your voice to the call for a “rational investment” in public higher education.

01/20/10 UPDATE: Governor Announces Public Higher Education Changes, PSC Fights Cuts.  The PSC calls on Governor Paterson to stop cutting the nation’s oldest and largest institution of public higher education. PSC members and leaders will lobby and testify in Albany next week, calling on the legislature to reject this proposal for yet another cut to CUNY, coming after nearly $100 million in cuts last year and two decades of underfunding.

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Lawmakers in Albany need to hear from you immediately. Citing a deadline for applying for federal “Race to the Top” funds, Gov. Paterson is pressing the Legislature to pass a bill by January 14 that would lift the cap on charter schools without implementing any of the reforms needed to fix the law. Unlimited charter schools would mean further degradation of the non-charter public education system. 

Tell your representatives to oppose the governor's proposed bill and support "Chartering Fairness," a plan that benefits all students and taxpayers with provisions that include:

•Requiring charter schools to serve the same population as regular public schools, including English language learners and students with disabilities;

• Subjecting charter schools to the same audits and disclosure requirements as regular public schools;

• Banning for-profit operators. Kids must come before corporate profits.

Click here to send a free fax urging the Legislature to do the right thing. For more information, click here.

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UFS FACULTY EXPERIENCE SURVEY (Spring 2009) is now available online at www.cunyufs.org/FES/.  The survey and its data-rich appendices provide a look at levels of faculty satisfaction/dissatisfaction broken down by college and university wide.

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Half of the PSC chapters will be electing officers, delegates and alternates to the PSC Delegate Assembly and members of the Welfare Council Advisory Board.  Click here for details and the election notice.

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Swine Flu: Is the University Ready?

Click here for overview on how to protect our campuses.  The PSC is pushing City and CUNY officials to do more on H1N1 prevention and preparedness. PSC President Barbara Bowen gave  testimony before a NYS Assembly committee on Tuesday, 10/13. The union is asking members to report on swine flu preparedness on every campus – help us by reporting your conditions here.
 

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On October 24, dozens of beneficiaries gathered at the PSC union hall to celebrate the eight weeks of paid leave they have been able to enjoy with their newborn and adopted children.  Story and photos

Click here for information on how to apply for parental leave.

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PART-TIMER PAY DATES

Click here for Spring 2010 pay dates.

Students checking out the Hall of Shame exhibit.

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◄Bronx Community College faculty, staff and students face all kinds of health and safety problems on campus – not enough potable water, too many squirrels living in their offices, not enough heat, too much heat, unclean bathrooms… and more. On Tuesday, November 24th they catalogued some of the problems on a “Hall of Shame” and encouraged their colleagues and classmates to sign petitions to the legislature.  Photo Story.

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Click here for an analysis of the issues raised by 80th Street's plans for a new community college.

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RACE & EMPLOYMENT AT CUNY. 

More than six years ago, CUNY college presidents called for a “revitalization” of the University’s affirmative action programs. Progress since then has been uneven: A few steps forward and some notable steps backward.  Click here for Clarion article.

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This past April and May, the PSC turned its legislative focus to passing S. 4123 and A-613-A, state senate and assembly bills that would ensure contingent faculty’s access to unemployment insurance. Because part-timers have no guarantee of being rehired for the following semester once a course ends, they are similar to other workers (in construction and the entertainment trades, for example) whose employment is episodic and who receive unemployment benefits when they are not working and otherwise eligible – and adjuncts should receive the same benefits.

As June began, the legislature entered a prolonged period of gridlock, with a dispute over control of the State Senate that took weeks to resolve. But the union used this time to continue organizing visits to lawmakers in their local district offices, urging the legislature to remove the unfair restrictions that limit part-time faculty from collecting unemployment insurance (UI).

PSC activists met with State Senators Martin Malave Dilan, Bill Perkins and Diane Savino, and Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and José Peralta. Glick is chair of the Assembly’s committee on higher education, while Savino chairs the Senate’s committee on civil service. The UI reform bill is a priority for the PSC’s state affiliate, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). NYSUT and the PSC want parttime faculty to be treated similarly to other seasonal workers, such as those in the resort or construction industries.

After the State Senate finally resolved its internal struggle in July, it passed a limited number of bills and then adjourned. But UI reform may still get action this session.

The New York State AFL-CIO is leading statewide efforts in support of broad UI reform, including increasing the maximum benefit. Because of New York’s high unemployment rate, a comprehensive UI reform package – including equity for adjuncts – could come to a vote this fall.

◄Click here to send an "Act Now" letter to your state legislators urging passage and here for more information.

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PSC, UUP, NYSUT Leaders Reject Regents’ Proposed “Reforms” 

This Fall, the New York State Board of Regents proposed sweeping changes to teacher preparation that, if enacted, could affect thousands of PSC and UUP members who teach in departments of education, and, of course, future teachers. Schools of education are already subject to national accreditation and the Regents’ proposals are largely untested and, in many respects, clearly unwise,” said PSC First Vice President Steve London, who has worked on the union’s position, which was informed by extensive discussions with the education faculty. Last week, PSC President Barbara Bowen, UUP President Phil Smith and NYUST First Vice President Maria Neira wrote Education Commissioner David Steiner rebutting the proposals. “The proposal would have been strengthened by involving faculty in these discussions,” Bowen, Smith, and Neira wrote before arguing each point in detail. (See the letter here).

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More than 1,200 PSC members returned an affordable housing survey that the union sent out this summer. The survey was an initial step toward assessing what role the union might play in addressing members’ housing needs. Details.

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Overtime pay and compensatory time have been crucial issues for HEOs and the union has pursued a multi-pronged strategy to address it. More than a year ago an arbitration ruling definitively declared that the PSC contract bars CUNY from regularly scheduling HEOs for more than 35 hours a week. The arbitrator also ruled that the contract allows CUNY to grant compensatory time off to HEOs. In May 2007, the union also won a legal settlement, based on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that established time-and-a-half overtime pay for eligible HEO series employees for time worked beyond 40 hours in a week. The union and the University have now worked out an implementation agreement in response to these rulings. The August 24 deadline for filing comp. time claims comes from that agreement.

HEOs who have questions about the agreement after reading the mailing should call the Contract Enforcement Department at the PSC to speak with a HEO grievance counselor. (Please read the letter and enclosed Q&A sheet first…it might answer your questions without the need for a call.)

HEOs can read the overtime implementation agreement by clicking here.

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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT, our parent union) announced a campaign to collect one million signatures on a petition calling on the new president and Congress to pass the federal Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA would reform our national labor law to protect the right of workers to form unions. Current labor law is tilted in favor of the employer and fails to guarantee that workers who try to form unions will not face vicious anti-union campaigns by their employers. The result is that fewer workers are able to join unions, which means fewer workers have the power to bargain for better wages and work conditions. This dynamic means that there is a downward pull on the pay and quality of all jobs. Click here to add your name to the petition -- or click the button below.

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For information and application materials for HEO-CLT grants and the new series of Adjunct/CET grants click here.
 

The minutes for the PSC Delegate Assembly, beginning with the 2006-2007 academic year, are now online (click here).

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PSC MODIFIES AGENCY FEE REBATE POLICY

On April 3, 2008, the PSC modified its agency fee rebate notice and procedure for consistency with existing rulings on the subject and a decision of the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Details.

New Court Ruling on Agency Fee Withholdings.  In October, 2009, the US Court of Appeals upheld the PSC’s right to charge non-members for political activities aimed at securing a new contract and for lobbying efforts related to collective bargaining, but remanded to the Second District Court for further review the bases of the union’s actual apportionment of charges in four categories of expense and one category of expense of the PSC’s national affiliate. 

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