MEMBERS WIN PAYOUT
More than 4,300 adjuncts and other instructional staff represented by the PSC will receive a combined payout of more than $1.7 million under the terms of a new settlement agreement signed by President James Davis on Wednesday, May 22. The settlement stems from college and CUNY-wide grievances filed by the union in June 2020 after CUNY failed to provide proper compensation for required online training provided by the colleges and CUNY Central in the spring and summer of 2020. The affected adjuncts and instructional staff who are party to the agreement were paid varying amounts at the time of the training, but those amounts were less than what CUNY was contractually obligated to pay. The settlement will bring the full payment for the online training up to $900 per worker, and CUNY will be required to pay each affected worker the difference between what they were paid and the agreed-upon $900. Individual payouts will range from $6 to $800. The payment will appear as a line item on members’ paychecks. CUNY Payroll has not yet confirmed a payment date, but members should look out for the payment this summer.
REMOTE WORK EXTENDED
The PSC has secured an agreement with CUNY to extend the current remote work agreement through June 30, 2025, while negotiations continue about the future of remote work for PSC members. The extended agreement provides a framework for arrangements between workers and their supervisors about the schedule and duration of remote work and guarantees certain protections when we are working remotely. The agreement form to be signed by the employee and supervisor is posted on the CUNY website.
BROKEN PROMISES?
Gothamist reported that the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation is demanding in a lawsuit that a majority of its $25 million gift to CUNY be returned after the University “reneged on an agreement to use the cash to build a new community college facility.”
The outlet reported that the foundation “made the donation in 2013 with the agreement that CUNY’s New Community College in Midtown would be renamed after the Guttman family, and eventually would be moved to a new, permanent location to house more students. The donation was one of the largest ever given to a two-year college in the U.S.”
The outlet continued, “The school was renamed Stella and Charles Guttman Community College, but the lawsuit alleges CUNY broke its contract with the charity by declining to build a new campus for the school.”
And it said, “The charity wrote in the lawsuit that $15 million of its donation was tied to the new facility through an endowment fund. The lawsuit requests that money be reimbursed to the charity, plus interest – for a total of $21 million.”
Published: August 5, 2024
