Demand Contract Action from President Cocco De Filippis
Target: Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D., President, Hostos Community College
CUNY’s newly launched strategic roadmap promises “a bigger, better and bolder future”—a plan that “will amplify our impact as the nation’s greatest higher education engine of equity and upward mobility and advance the well-being of all residents of the City and State of New York.” Hostos’s 2023-2028 strategic plan similarly aims at “elevating justice” by increasing student socio-economic mobility and strengthening, among other goals, justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. But to what extent do these goals of justice, equity, and well-being extend to faculty and staff at Hostos and CUNY?
Click to read more about why you should sign the petition below.
For many years, our work at CUNY has been devalued. Years of high inflation and fiscal austerity have significantly eroded our wages, damaging morale and the dignity of working at CUNY. Not only do staff and faculty earn less, but many have been forced to take on additional responsibilities without recognition and commensurate compensation. In the meantime, CUNY’s workforce remains deeply unequal; equity raises and enhanced job security have never been more necessary than now.
Genuine commitment to social justice and equity demands concrete actions. As such, we, the undersigned, call on you, President Cocco De Filippis, to take the following steps to “elevate justice” for everyone at Hostos and help “lift” CUNY faculty and staff.
Sponsored by
To:
Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D., President, Hostos Community College
From:
[Your Name]
DEMANDS
1. Use your position and influence as Hostos president to impress upon the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees the urgency and fairness of our contractual demands, including:
• Across-the-board salary increases of 8% in the first two years and 4% in subsequent 3 years.
• Reclassification, promotional opportunities, and promotions with step increases for staff and faculty; remote and flexible work for staff.
• Pay parity and enhanced job security for adjuncts, including a path to CCE and conversion to full-time positions.
2. Address the following crucial issues at Hostos:
• Class cancellations. Class cancellations are very disruptive for faculty, staff, and students, many of whom have demanding schedules at work and home that cannot be easily altered. Class cancellations create an enormous challenge for course managers, advisors, and coaches, who must work very quickly to help students find other sections of courses that they need—sections that are also compatible with students’ busy schedules. For full-time faculty, these cancellations mean potentially ending with teaching underloads which may be difficult to reconcile, especially if classes continue to be cancelled. For part-time faculty, class cancellations often mean losing income, health insurance, and continuity of employment. Conversely, smaller class sizes greatly benefit our students, many of whom arrive at Hostos with educational deficits that require individual attention and extra time to address. Therefore, we urge that all scheduled classes be allowed to run, even with low enrollment, and that low-enrolled classes not be merged with other sections.
• Staffing and promotion. The understaffing crisis at Hostos has created an untenable situation for many Hostos staff and has had repercussions for faculty as well. Yet, as understaffing has forced staff to work longer hours and take on extra responsibilities, opportunities for promotion have been few and far between. We call on you to do everything in your power to end the understaffing crisis at Hostos, and to work with Hostos staff to create a transparent and equitable process that incentivizes opportunities for promotion.
• Infrastructure and facilities. While we understand that there are budgetary constraints, we believe that basic infrastructure needs must be addressed with urgency. All faculty, staff and students should work/learn in spaces that are clean, accessible, well-maintained, and conducive to health and safety. This includes functioning elevators, presentable, properly heated/cooled classrooms and office spaces, and a cafeteria that makes affordable, nutritious food available to students.
