In an early morning protest, nearly 1,000 labor activists packed East 68th Street in front of Chancellor James B. Milliken’s Upper East Side luxury apartment in Manhattan, for which CUNY pays $19,500 per month.
Civil Disobedience – November 4, 2015
A Brooklyn College faculty member is led to a police van; all told, 52 union members were arrested for blocking the entrance of the CUNY Central Office on 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The civil disobedience took place after a bargaining session where CUNY offered no retroactive raises for four of the years that union members have worked without a contract.
Mass Meeting – November 19, 2015
Packed inside the Cooper Union’s historic Great Hall, members listened to PSC leaders chart the way forward for winning a fair contract.
Higher Education Lobby Day – February 25, 2016
CUNY students and PSC members traveled to Albany to lobby state lawmakers for more funding for the state’s public colleges. At stake was a $485 million cut to the state’s allocation for CUNY’s senior colleges and possible tuition hikes at the state’s public four-year colleges.
CUNY Rising Rally – March 10, 2016
Venus McGee, a student at LaGuardia Community College, addressed the crowd at the CUNY Rising rally, an unprecedented coalition effort by two dozen labor and community groups to press the state to fund CUNY and keep it true to its original mission of educating the children of “the whole people” of New York City.
CUNY Writers Against Austerity – March 20, 2016
David Unger of City College was one of the 50 writers who read at the PSC literary event. In a marathon reading, writers read short excerpts about solidarity, family, teaching and the people of New York City.
‘Don’t Let CUNY Die’ – March 24, 2016
George Emilio Sanchez of the College of Staten Island placed his body down on the line to fight against austerity at CUNY and massive budget cuts to the university system. Sanchez was among 41 people — including New York City Council members Inez Barron and I. Daneek Miller — arrested for taking part in a civil disobedience outside Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Midtown Manhattan office.
Strike Authorization Vote – May 2 – 11, 2016
PSC members at The Graduate Center cast their ballots for the union’s strike authorization vote. With an overwhelming 92 percent yes vote from members who participated, PSC members authorized the union’s Executive Council to call a strike or work stoppage if necessary.