College laboratory technicians faced a wage ceiling for decades: Once they hit their top step, there has been no real path for promotion. Until now.
One of the major gains for CLTs in the newly implemented collective bargaining agreement is the $2,500 assignment differential for CLTs and Senior CLTs who have completed one year at the top salary step. According to the contract, the differentials are “based upon excellence in performance or increased responsibilities within the title,” and “eligible employees may be nominated by their supervisors or may nominate themselves to receive the differential.”
LONG WAIT
“For decades, CLTs across CUNY have taken on complex instructional, technical and supervisory responsibilities that are essential to teaching, research and student learning. But for years, there was no reliable structure for recognizing that work,” said Amy Jeu, a senior CLT in the department of geography and environmental science at Hunter College. “The new Assignment Differential finally gives CLTs a clear, documented pathway to be acknowledged when our responsibilities expand or when we consistently perform at an exceptional level. The process – complete with University-wide standards, HR verification, department personnel and budget review, and guaranteed notification timelines – brings long-needed transparency and accountability to a system that was opaque for decades.”
For Jeu, this is more than “a onetime salary enhancement”; rather it “creates the first University-wide framework for recognizing the higher-level instructional, administrative and technical work that CLTs already perform every day.”
She added, “These reforms are the direct result of years of PSC organizing and member documentation, and they represent a meaningful shift toward fairness, consistency and professional respect. They also strengthen CUNY as a whole, because when CLT responsibilities are accurately recognized and supported, academic programs, laboratories and student services operate more safely, effectively and equitably.”
Published: December 11, 2025
