Upcoming adjunct contractual raises

Ensuring pay increases

A major change in teaching adjunct rates of pay is coming this fall. To ensure that you receive every increase to which you are entitled if you are teaching next year, it is important that you check your current hourly rate and payroll history now. The PSC negotiated a historic salary increase for teaching adjuncts in the current 2017–2023 PSC-CUNY contract. In addition to the across-the-board raises from 2018 to 2021, two other provisions add up to the largest salary increase for adjuncts in the union’s history and represent one of the largest adjunct salary increases in any contract nationally. The first is the paid weekly office hours for every course, which took effect in Spring 2020, and the second will begin this fall when a new, single rate for each teaching adjunct title is introduced. While we have not yet achieved full adjunct equity, the gains in the current contract represent a major advance.

NEW STRUCTURE

Effective August 25, 2022, a new structure for teaching adjunct compensation begins with a single hourly rate for each title, with one important exception: teaching adjuncts whose hourly rate on August 25, 2022, is higher than the new single rate will continue to be paid at that rate and receive a 2% increase on November 1, 2022. The teaching adjunct hourly rates (see link below) shows how the change will work. In other words, teaching adjuncts in any title who are on a higher hourly rate when the single rate goes into effect will be held harmless, their higher salary maintained with an additional 2% increase in November. Check your current hourly rate of pay and payroll history if you are teaching this fall, so that your salary is accurate when the new rates come into effect. If you believe your current rate of pay is incorrect, notify your college Human Resources Office to make sure the correction is made before August 25. For most adjuncts, your future rate of pay will depend on the single hourly rate applied to your title on August 25 until a new contract is negotiated.

CONTRACT COMPLIANCE

Despite the union’s efforts to ensure compliance with Article 24.2 (see link at end of article), governing movement in adjunct hourly rate steps, CUNY colleges do not always move adjuncts up when they should. PSC leadership has worked with CUNY management this spring to monitor compliance, but experience shows that there may still be errors. Please check your salary history before August 25 for consistency with the contract and ensure that you are properly compensated. Teaching adjuncts for whom the single rate applies could see an increase of up to 18% in their rate of pay. Teaching adjuncts for whom the single rate does not apply, because their rate of pay is higher, will have their rate of pay “red-circled.” Their salary will continue to be calculated on the basis of their teaching hours, including office hours, multiplied by their higher red-circled hourly rate. Along with other CUNY salary rates, the rate for those adjuncts will increase by 2% on November 1, 2022. The union negotiated the new structure to maximize the total increase in teaching adjunct pay and apply a significant increase to lower salary steps in each title, where most adjuncts are concentrated. Under the new structure, rather than waiting years to move slowly up the salary steps, teaching adjuncts immediately receive a single hourly rate, respective to their title, which is significantly higher than the highest salary step for that title in the previous contract. All teaching adjuncts will see an increase in their hourly rates during this upcoming fall semester, even if their current rate of pay is higher than the new single rate. Outlined below are the new single rates for each teaching adjunct title and compensation for 3-credit and 4-credit courses.

ADJUNCT TITLE SINGLE HOURLY RATE

NARROWING THE GAP

The current contract substantially narrows the gap in pay between a full-time lecturer and adjunct lecturer for an equivalent teaching load. The CUNY Board of Trustees’ recognition that current adjuncts should fill some of the new full-time faculty lines reflects the fact that our contract has diminished the economic incentive to rely on adjunct labor. The current contract provides the groundwork on which future efforts are made to achieve fair wages for all and crack the prevailing exploitative system. With a more stable instructional workforce, students benefit from having professors who are well-compensated and better able to provide them with the support they need to thrive. Teaching adjuncts, please check the hourly rate schedules to determine your appropriate pay rate. And if you know any colleagues who have not yet joined their union, please direct them to psc-cuny.org/join-psc. To make the gains that we and our students deserve, the PSC must be united around a strong union membership.

RELEVANT LINKS

• Adjunct Hourly Rate Schedule: psc-cuny.org/content/adjunct-and-hourly-professorial-rates

• PSC Contract Article 24.2: psc-cuny.org/contract/article-24-salary-schedules