In January, PSC members ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with management that won 90% approval of those voting. The contract was overwhelmingly advanced to a membership ratification vote by the delegates in December.
What is exceptional about this contract–in addition to it being the result of a hard-fought struggle involving numerous protests against CUNY management’s intransigence – is that it includes not just economic gains for all PSC members, but provides new economic gains, professional development and new rights for lecturers, non-teaching members and CLIP and CUNY Start.
ECONOMIC GAINS
The Delegate Assembly voting to send the agreement to the full membership, which ratified the contract. (Credit: Paul Frangipane)
- Across-the-board salary increases of 13.4% over the courseof the contract, with higher increases for several titles
- 3.0% on 3/1/23
- 3.0% on 4/1/24
- 3.25% on 9/1/25
- 3.5% on 9/1/26
- Retroactive pay beginning from March 1, 2023, day one of the contract
- A ratification bonus for all full-time employees ($3,000) and part-time employees (pro rata) who are on payroll
- Additional equity raises above and beyond across-the-board raises for faculty and professional staff in the College Laboratory Technician series, Assistants to HEO, and CLIP and CUNY Start Instructors
- Teaching adjunct salary increase to a minimum of $7,100 per 3-contact-hour course and $9,467 per 4-contact-hour course, professionalization of teaching adjunct role and increases to the non-teaching adjunct hourly rate
- Graduate Assistant minimum salary increases totaling 29.2% for Grad A and 43.6% for Grad B, along with significant raises for the C and D titles
- Additional $1,250 salary increases for members who are on the top step of a salary schedule who are not already receiving an equity raise greater than $1,250, effective March 1, 2027
RIGHTS AND BENEFITS
Member rights and benefits have been enhanced in the proposed contract. They include:
- With every promotion and reclassification, a raise of at least one step on the new salary schedule
- Paid parental leave program expanded from 8 weeks to 12 weeks, and inclusion of foster parents, effective March 1, 2025
- A dedicated Health & Safety labor-management committee at every CUNY college
- Workload credit for adjuncts teaching “jumbo” classes equivalent to that of full-time faculty in the department or college
- CLIP and CUNY Start instructor benefit enhancements and pilot 2-year job security program for long-serving instructors starting Fall 2025
- SEEK Directors and College Discovery Directors will join the PSC bargaining unit
- Department Chairs may carry over up to $6,000 of unused contractual research funds for up to four years after returning to the department faculty
- Outsourcing of teaching faculty/instructors of record to individuals outside of the instructional staff or to artificial intelligence is prohibited
- For the first time, HEO-series titles who have accumulated compensatory time may, through a defined process, either utilize the time or, by mutual agreement, receive pay for the extra hours worked
- The remote work program continues pursuant to the Remote Work Agreement, but additional Remote Work provisions were not possible in the contract
- $4 million additional annual contribution to the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund to maintain and enhance participants’ supplemental benefits
Members speak out in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement. (Credit: Paul Frangipane)
PROFESSIONAL ADVANCEMENT
Professional advancement was a priority that members expressed, and we made progress:
- A promotional path for full-time Lecturers (including Doctoral schedule) to become Senior Lecturers, and, effective September 1, 2026, a $2,500 payment upon attaining Certificate of Continuous Employment
- PSC-CUNY Awards maximum award increased to $7,000 and $15,000, depending on category of application
- Post-tenure reassigned time pilot program for tenured Assistant and Associate Professors to pursue scholarship
- CLT and Senior CLT at the top salary step will be eligible for a $2,500 Salary Assignment Differential
- HEO Assistants will be eligible for Advanced Degree Differentials, effective March 1, 2027
- HEOs who request reclassification will know that there is a PSC-appointed HEO on their college’s HEO Committee and that their request will get a response within 90 days
- A labor-management committee will consult on amending the Instructional Staff Code of Practice to clarify the CLT promotion procedure
- Hunter College Campus Schools sabbaticals policy and Service Credit policy improved
LABOR-MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES FOR CONTINUED DISCUSSION
There are several issues around which we did not find agreement with CUNY administration, but instead secured a commitment to continue discussions under the new contract. These include:
- Graduate Assistant terms and conditions of employment
- Educational Opportunity Center workload
- Medical school faculty terms and conditions of employment
- Educational Technology
- Including adjuncts on paid parental leave
- Procedures around job abandonment and unpaid leave of over a year
- Library faculty reassigned time
- Clinical professor and distinguished lecturer terms and conditions of employment
- Enhanced opportunities for members in the CLT and Senior CLT titles to receive promotions
