Bargaining Updates 21-22 | Summer Campaigns

At the June 3 bargaining session, the PSC gave CUNY management a comprehensive presentation on how their proposed Bylaw changes are inconsistent with the contract and explained their legal obligation to bargain with the PSC. We returned to our proposal for CLIP and CUNY Start instructors to propel negotiations after CUNY resisted improvements to their job security in a previous session. There’s no excuse for denying a Certificate of Continuing Employment for the long-serving instructors in these programs. Read the full update for the 21st bargaining session.

On June 5, negotiations continued on adjunct multi-year appointments and job security broadly. We countered CUNY’s “prioritization” model of May 26 with a revised proposal for a commitment to real job security and health insurance eligibility. The PSC has insisted that the fundamental features of Appendix E must be maintained, and we continue to oppose management’s effort to establish a longer time to qualification of 16 consecutive semesters (a reduction from their initial proposal of 24). The PSC also resumed arguments for improving contractual health and safety protections. Read the full update for the 22nd bargaining session.

All dues-paying members are welcome to observe a bargaining session after attending an online orientation. Your next opportunity to attend an orientation will be:

• Tuesday, July 9, 6:30-7:30 PM, Register here for the 7/9 Zoom.

New York’s primary elections for federal and state offices are on Tuesday, June 25, and early voting starts on Saturday, June 15. Check out the PSC Get Out the Vote 2024 webpage for the union’s priority races and volunteer opportunities.

We’re in the final stretch of the NYC Budget Campaign, and the PSC is pushing for full restoration of CUNY community college funding. Mayor Eric Adams has cut $95 million from CUNY’s budget since he took office; if he has his way, our university will remain grossly underfunded. The City Council and our partners in The People’s Plan coalition are making CUNY a priority, but we need to keep up the pressure until the budget is final. You can help by:

• Sharing this op-ed by First Vice President Jen Gaboury with your networks and your City Council member. The piece, published in AM NY, urges the Council to use budget amendment powers they haven’t used in 26 years to fully fund CUNY.

• Tuning in Monday at 3PM when President James Davis speaks live online with Higher Education Chair Eric Dinowitz and other Council leaders about fully funding the community colleges. Put a reminder on your calendar. We’ll share the live feed on the union’s social media accounts and will post a podcast recording after.

• Turning out next Thursday, June 20 at 10 AM for the Rally for a People’s Budget on the steps of City Hall. A strong turnout for CUNY at this rally organized by The People’s Plan coalition will provide the energy and momentum our Council allies need to push right up to the end-of-month budget deadline.

• Sending the PSC’s NYC budget letter to the Mayor and your Council Member. Send the letter urging them to restore the Mayor’s cuts to fill our 400+ faculty and staff vacancies and make new investments in expanded ASAP, fixing our crumbling facilities, and helping students qualify for Fair Fares.

On Wednesday, June 12th, PSC President James Davis spoke at a rally at City Hall Park, calling on the NYC Council to pass Intro 360, the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act, a PSC-endorsed bill that would require the party who hires an apartment rental broker to also pay the broker fee. The bill, sponsored by Council member Chi Ossé, has been endorsed by labor partners across New York, including the Central Labor Council, and is co-sponsored by a majority of current City Council members. President Davis’ remarks included:

“We’re out here in support with our labor siblings and with our brave Council Members to say that our members cannot afford extortionate brokers’ fees! We also are here because we serve working-class students in the city of New York, and a student who graduates from a CUNY college cannot afford a $10,000 nest egg to spend on a broker fee.”

PSC First Vice President Jen Gaboury testified Monday, June 10 before the NYC Council Committee on Higher Education about how to improve outcomes for transfer students in the CUNY system. The full video of the hearing is archived here. In her testimony, which starts at the 1:47:48 timestamp, Gaboury argues that the root of the problems with transfer at CUNY is understaffing and a lack of public funding. She summarized her testimony in a video posted here and on social media.

The PSC, DC 37, RWDSU, the Central Labor Council, the Building Trades Council, and ten other labor unions are calling on Mayor Adams to restore his cuts to funding for early childhood education. The labor coalition released a letter to the Mayor this Wednesday calling for the restoration of $170 million in Program to Eliminate the Gap cuts to 3-K and Pre-K, and pushing for additional investments, including $60 million to fund 4,000 extended day and extended year seats in 3-K and Pre-K. Click here to read the letter.