PSC members marching at the Armory (credit: ARI PAUL).
“Tax the rich, not the poor!”
That’s what more than 100 PSC members chanted as they confronted state lawmakers February 25 in the hallways of the state capitol in Albany.
PSC members joined with more than two thousand other union members and community activists to demand new taxes on corporations and the wealthy in New York state. The new tax revenue would help fund vital services and education in the state budget, offset federal cuts that impact the state budget, and help New York City close a $5.4 billion two-year budget shortfall. Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran on a promise of increased taxes on the city and state’s wealthiest to fund education and services. Now Our Time, the grassroots organization that arose out of the Mamdani campaign, is partnering with a coalition of groups, including the PSC, to push Albany to make that a reality.
“It is never a high education year as it pertains to budgets. To leave it up to Central and the three people in the room we will never have what is needed to return CUNY to the people,” said Arturo Enamorado, a behavioral sciences lecturer at Kingsborough Community College, who attended the all-day action. “That is why people power is always the way. Amongst a sea of yellow ‘tax the rich’ hats, two days after a blizzard no less, the red PSC caps and signs stood clear as day and louder than any contingent to remind all those in our state’s capital it is time to tax the rich and not the poor. I was proud to hold the banner and lead the chants that reminded made our demands clear as day. As in the words of Septima Clark, ‘Democracy is not automatic, it requires participation,’ and there is no better participation than from organized labor. We will be back again and again until the governor remembers who she works for.”
At a raucous rally in the historic Albany Armory before the crowd marched to the capitol for chanting and individual lawmaker visits, speakers noted that our state is home to numerous billionaires who owe their fair share of taxes. Worse, the Trump administration granted these billionaires a huge tax break.
A pamphlet from the PSC states that an “Estimated $4.5 trillion reduction in federal tax revenue nationwide” has been lost due to Trump’s class warfare, and that “According the Fiscal Policy Institute, in New York alone, taxpayers who earn over $1 million will save a total of $12 billion annually. This is equivalent to $129,600 per millionaire each year, or 2.7% of their income.”
The PSC, along with other unions and groups, is calling for progressive taxation to fill the gap. See more about the proposals here.
While PSC members rallied in the Armory, hundreds of CUNY and SUNY students gathered inside the Capitol for a Student, Faculty, Staff Higher Education Action Day calling for increased funding for CUNY, broader access to free tuition, more financial aid, and higher taxes on corporations and the rich. At the action day, PSC First Vice President Jen Gaboury called on Governor Hochul to “reframe the conversation” and reclaim the funding that Washington has handed over to the rich. Addressing the governor she said, “Donald Trump has stolen money out of your budget and you need to go and get it on behalf of all of us. That is your job!”
Back at the Armory, “Our fight is not just against the rich,” said Phara Souffrant Forrest, an assembly member backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, “but against the system that enables” inequality.
This is just one part of the effort the PSC is leading to ensure that the next state budget agreement, due in April, includes full funding of CUNY and with the necessary revenue to fund education and vital state services. The PSC will be leading more rallies and visits to lawmakers downstate between now and the budget agreement.
The day before the Albany mass action, PSC President James Davis testified for the legislature, noting that the system needed $92 million to hire 1,000 full-time faculty next year as well as $16 million to hire 55 advisors and 40 mental health counselors.
But he also insisted on new taxes on the wealthy to make that happen. “While the federal government gives $12 billion in tax breaks to the wealthiest New Yorkers, the rest of us should not struggle to pay for public college, child care, exorbitant rents and transportation costs,” Davis said. “The claim that the wealthiest are fleeing New York City because of taxes is inaccurate. We are most at risk of losing middle class New Yorkers.”
Published: March 2, 2026
