At a meeting of the CUNY Board of Trustees held October 29 at Baruch College, PSC President Barbara Bowen urged the Board to take a public stand against the State’s practice of refusing to fund the ongoing costs of labor contracts. “CUNY’s FY 2020 budget request must challenge the premise that poverty funding is all CUNY can expect. Aim higher! It must call for a fully funded contract, with real raises for all and $7,000 per course for adjuncts,” she said. Video of the meeting is posted here (President Bowen speaks at timestamp 41:45).
The meeting was held just a week after more than 100 faculty and staff testified at a Board hearing also held at Baruch. The testimony featured first-hand stories of the damage being done to the University by salaries that lag thousands of dollars behind those at comparable institutions, near-poverty-level adjunct pay and chronic underfunding.
