Background
Professional Staff Congress (PSC) faculty and staff have heard from administrators that “respect” and “high morale” are important. However, over the years, CUNY and BCC administrators have consistently devalued our work. CUNY management’s contract agenda makes this clear, as do the practices and policies at BCC highlighted below.
BCC Campus
- At BCC, faculty/staff who participate in stipended professional development and/or service are often not paid in a timely manner. They are paid many months later and when payment finally arrives, it is often aggregated with regular pay, so it’s not clear whether the wage was paid in full. Furthermore, every semester, some adjuncts are not paid in a timely manner, sometimes missing several pay periods.
- Health and safety improvements on campus are urgent. While we understand that there are budgetary constraints, we believe that basic infrastructure needs must be addressed with urgency.
- BCC administration has asked some teaching faculty to teach low-enrolled courses at reduced compensation. We strongly oppose this practice as a unilaterally imposed change to our terms of employment. Furthermore, the practice ignores the hours, effort, and ingenuity that are required to prepare for the course, develop the syllabus, readings, assignments, lectures, classroom activities, and the enhanced faculty-student engagement that accompanies smaller class sizes.
PSC-CUNY Contract
Years of high inflation have significantly eroded wages of PSC members, damaging the morale and dignity of working for CUNY. Not only have staff and faculty been working for less, but many have been forced to take on additional job responsibilities without recognition and commensurate compensation. Furthermore, experienced adjunct faculty, who have dedicated their professional lives to teaching CUNY students, have been summarily dismissed.
Genuine respect demands concrete actions.
We are petitioning BCC President Santiago to address the BCC campus specific issues directly and to use his influence with the Chancellor on PSC-CUNY Contract issues to impress upon him the urgency and fairness of our contractual demands.
Published: October 11, 2023
