PSC members came out by the hundreds on the morning of Thursday, October 1 to demand that Chancellor Milliken take action now to settle the contract. Including students and members of other city unions who turned out in solidarity, close to 1,000 people joined the protest.
Press coverage
Press coverage included print and on-line reports both before and after the demonstration; and The Daily News published a perfectly timed op-ed about crisis in educational quality at CUNY caused by under-investment by the State. News of the protest reached more than 38,000 readers through the PSC’s Facebook page and thousands more through Twitter. Follow the hash tags #CUNYneedsaraise and #CUNYcontractnow to see photos and more. Additional press clips:
- Amsterdam News
- The Chief (Pay wall)
- City & State TV
- Daily News
- Dissent Magazine, Belabored Podcast (Starts at 2:45)
- Labor Press 1
- Labor Press 2
- DNAInfo
- Queens Free Press
- Politico New York 1
- Politico New York 2 (Pay wall)
- Times Union State Worker Blog
- WBAI Mimi Rosenberg Morning Show 9.23 (Starts at 1:11)
- WBAI Jordan Journal
- WNYW Fox 5
What comes next?
The goal of the protest was to force movement on a fair economic offer. The PSC and CUNY management have several bargaining sessions scheduled for the next few weeks, and we will use them to press hard for progress on economics. At the same time, the union leadership continues to advocate directly with the State government for an allocation of funds to cover our contract. President Bowen was in discussion with the Governor’s Office on our contract as recently as Thursday afternoon.
We hope that Milliken has woken up to the urgency of providing a workable economic offer. But if necessary, the PSC is prepared to escalate further. We will soon announce plans for a more disruptive action scheduled for November 4. The depth of participation in yesterday’s protest makes it clear that union members are ready for a more militant action. We will need all of you, though, to be sure that the next action is a success.
