1000+ Sing Out, Shout Out for #APeoplesCUNY

More than one thousand (1000) workers, students and CUNY allies held a massive rally across from Governor Hochul’s Midtown Manhattan office dubbed the “Sing Out, Shout Out for #APeoplesCUNY.” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Assembly Members Karines Reyes, Harvey Epstein, Khaleel Anderson and Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, joined the event focused on fully funding the City University of New York (CUNY) and ending the ten-month long contract delay for union members of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).

Union leaders from the PSC, CUNY student and community groups from the CUNY Rising Alliance, and the elected officials fired up the crowd at the “Sing Out” portion of the event. Between performances by the NYC Labor Chorus, Resistance Revival Chorus, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, and many more, the PSC called on Governor Hochul to fund the New Deal for CUNY and maintain her commitment to reinvesting in CUNY in her Executive Budget proposal in January.

“It’s so inspiring to see  1000 PSC members, students and allies here making a resounding call for a better CUNY,” said PSC CUNY President James Davis. “Governor Hochul, CUNY Chancellor Rodríguez: We need a New Deal for CUNY and a fully funded contract for the faculty and staff who provide the high-quality education our students deserve, this year and into the future.”

Hundreds of CUNY supporters demand more financial help in Midtown rally https://t.co/I79SvdEKR5 pic.twitter.com/eWMJOcrocl

— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) December 3, 2023

The New Deal for CUNY (state legislation S2146/A4425) would set minimum staff-to-student ratios for full-time faculty, counselors, and advisors, ensure parity pay for adjunct faculty, fix CUNY’s failing infrastructure and make CUNY tuition-free, as it once was.

“As a proud graduate of CUNY, I know that with the right investment it could be the crown jewel of public education in our state. To get there, we need to invest in the system, those who work to educate young minds and the students themselves. I’m proud to have fought for and won historic funding in the last two state budgets but that’s only the beginning. I’ll continue to work for a New Deal for CUNY and #APeoplesCUNY in Albany,” said Brooklyn State Senator Andrew Gounardes, who sponsors the New Deal for CUNY in the state senate.

“I am a two-time CUNY graduate. CUNY was my ticket to the middle class and I am a nurse today because of CUNY. For me, this fight is very personal. Higher education, the City University of New York, is the only answer to make sure that people can continue to live in the City that we love,” said Bronx Assembly Member Karines Reyes who sponsors the New Deal for CUNY in the state assembly. “This is not just ensuring that we have a tuition-free CUNY education, but that we are staffing it with fulltime professors. Professors should not have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.”

After the “Sing Out” at the Governor’s office, members of the PSC, CUNY students and advocates marched to CUNY headquarters for a “Shout Out” picket line with chants and speeches demanding that university management agree to a fair contract with real raises.

CUNY’s senior colleges are funded by New York State; its community colleges are funded by both the state and the City. Years of disinvestment from the State and underfunding from the City have led to profound shortages of full-time faculty and staff and exploitation of underpaid part-time, contingent adjunct faculty. They teach more than half of the University’s undergraduate courses. Only 8% of CUNY buildings are in a state of good repair.

CUNY has received significant new public investments from Albany in the last two years, including $53 million for new full-time faculty. But the state funding for new faculty lines has barely kept pace with attrition, and Albany has never allocated its full 40-percent share of Community College funding. CUNY needs more than 2600 new full-time faculty lines, as well as State funding to hire mental health counselors and advisors.

The public university system has faced repeated cuts to community college funding at city level under Mayor Adams, including a 5% mid-year cut announced last week.

“This is a no brainer. CUNY is a jewel that needs to be polished over and over, but unfortunately they keep seemingly divesting from CUNY, at a time when we have to put more money in. Everyone deserves a quality education and I, and so many others, got that at CUNY,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “CUNY is hurting. Students are hurting. Faculty is hurting. Invest in CUNY. Get a fair contract. A New Deal for CUNY is what we need.”

“The CUNY Mayor can’t cut CUNY. So we’re going to organize in the legislature. We’re going to make sure the Governor hears. We’re going to make sure the Mayor hears. The time is now to invest in CUNY. A big part of that is making sure our faculty get a great contract, so they can teach all our students. And part of looking out for our public sector workers, including PSC CUNY faculty is making sure they have good healthcare when they retire!,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

“There is a severe lack of counseling and mental health services on campus after some of the most stressful times to be on campus in a post-covid world,” said Zanayah Brown, a NYPIRG activist and Queensborough Community College student. “We also see a lack of funding in our food pantries and need to be expanding these programs to support students, because you can’t do well in class when you’re distracted by an empty stomach.”

Meanwhile, enrollments at CUNY are rebounding after declining during COVID, and applications are up almost 400%.

“As a proud CUNY alumni and parent of a current law student, I know the value this great public university brings to our city,” said Manhattan Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. “High-quality, affordable public education should be accessible for all folks who wish to earn a college degree. Today we call for increased funding so that CUNY can continue to be an educational pillar of our city while also shouting out for stronger labor contracts for CUNY faculty.”

“We have to push for a budget that fully funds CUNY. While we fight for working class New Yorkers that are looking to attain an education from the CUNY system and that while we fight for union representatives from the PSC, we are making sure that across the board that New Yorkers can afford to be educated here,” said Queens Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson. “We have to make sure that our budget represent our values.”

The PSC-CUNY contract expired in February 2023. There have been nine bargaining sessions since negotiations began in June, but CUNY has yet to make an economic offer. The union is demanding raises that exceed inflation, pay parity and job security for adjunct faculty, better benefits, continued remote and flexible work options for staff, and other gains. CUNY management is seeking to reduce operating costs at the expense of workers and students, and to maximize managerial authority and “flexibility.”

“As the backbone of higher education in New York, CUNY faculty and staff deserve a fair contract. From health and safety concerns to livable, competitive salaries, Professional Staff Congress members need their value and security reflected in a new contract,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “It is imperative that management bargains in good faith and invests in the people who spend every day making CUNY a world-class education.”

“Higher education is a crucial component of upward mobility, and we must strengthen our educational system to provide equitable opportunities for all. CUNY provides world-class education and access to hundreds of thousands of students yearly, but we risk deteriorating the support needed for faculty, staff, and students without ample funding. We deserve a better, stronger CUNY,” said Manhattan Council Member Carmen De La Rosa.

AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN US AROUND

Sung by Jamel Cory Hudson, Professor at Baruch College and Andrea Vasquez, PSC First Vice President

Local 802 AFM House Band

The NYC Labor Chorus

Radical Evolution Theater Troupe

Resistance Revival Chorus

Rude Mechanical Orchestra