Equity Raises Begin in 2026

A series of new contractual raises negotiated by our union for specific job titles is going into effect this year. These raises exceed the across-the-board annual negotiated increases in an effort to improve equity and make gains for CUNY’s lowest paid faculty and professional staff titles, and they began with an increase last month to the teaching adjunct hourly rates.

On January 26, 2026, hourly rates increased for the vast majority of CUNY’s teaching adjuncts, with rates for the lowest paid and most numerous title, Adjunct Lecturer, increasing by 12% above the Fall 2025 rate. The pay for an Adjunct Lecturer’s three contact hour course increased by $725. Other teaching adjunct titles experienced similar increases, with another raise coming on September 1 of this year, all representing progress toward the union’s longstanding goal of equal pay for equal teaching work at CUNY.

Click here for the teaching adjunct salary schedule.

If you do not see the new rate for your title reflected in your paystub, double-check the salary schedule then contact your college’s HR office and the PSC adjunct grievance counselor assigned to your college.

Equity raises for other eligible titles will begin after September 1, 2026, when lump sum equity payments are scheduled for all full-time CLT series titles, Assistants to HEO, full-time CLIP Instructors and CUNY Start Instructors, and Graduate Assistants. The equity raises paid as lump sums to these titles in 2026 will then be included in one’s base salary as of March 1, 2027, to be paid out over the course of the regular pay periods.

September 1, 2026 also marks the date when full-time Lecturers and Doctoral Lecturers, including all EOC Lecturers, who had attained their Certificate of Continuous Employment (CCE) as of that date will be due a $2500 lump sum payment. Lecturers who attain a CCE after September 1, 2026 will receive the same payment upon certification.

Fair share tax reform is the way to fund our union’s platform of urgently needed CUNY investments and the more affordable life that voters are demanding. It’s also the fairest way to close budget gaps caused by federal funding cuts and the previous mayor’s mismanagement.

Thousands of New Yorkers will be in Albany on Wednesday, February 25th for the Tax the Rich Takeover Albany rally. It could be the largest event Albany has seen in years. Don’t miss it.

PSC buses will depart at 6:30 AM from locations in Harlem (365 W 125th Street) and Lower Manhattan (behind the PSC office, 25 Greenwich St) and will arrive back to the same locations around 7:00 PM. Lunch provided.

RESERVE A BUS SEAT            DOWNLOAD FLYER

PSC union dues have been powering a multi-year campaign led by NYSUT, our statewide affiliate, to improve state pensions for workers hired after 2012, when Governor Cuomo strong-armed lawmakers into cutting pensions for future state employees. Thousands of CUNY faculty and staff are enrolled in the Tier 6 pension, which requires workers to pay more out of pocket, sets a later retirement age, and has worse early retirement terms than the pensions available to earlier hires.

In the last few years the Fix Tier 6 campaign has won a shorter vesting period and a big increase to retirement payouts. This year, NYSUT is planning to finish the job, and PSC members are needed in the fight.

Thousands of NYSUT members have already registered for a massive Fix Tier 6 rally on March 8 at the MVP Arena in Albany! PSC members can register to attend even though the ticket portal says they are sold out. We’ve been assured that members who type “Professional Staff Congress (PSC)” into the waitlist form will be approved for admittance.

RSVP: FIX TIER 6 RALLY

Enrollments are rising at community colleges throughout New York as more students recognize their value, but state funding has not kept pace. Send a letter to your NYS legislators today urging them to provide predictable, sustainable support for these vital institutions. The letter calls for funding increases, a guaranteed funding floor indexed to inflation, and expansion of CUNY/SUNY Reconnect to cover 60 tuition- and fee-free credits at any community college.

SEND COMMUNITY COLLEGE LETTER

PSC members who attended the BIPOC Working Group’s Black Labor Leaders and the Fight for Worker Justice forum shared their reactions after the discussion and invited other members of color to participate in our union.

PSC Union Hall, RSVP

The PSC BIPOC Working Group is bringing together union members Thursday, February 26th at 6pm for an art build to celebrate the diversity of our members. It will be the start of a multi-session process to create a beautiful new banner for this PSC working group.

Sign up here to join us at the PSC Union Hall on 2/26 at 6pm! It will be a fun, communal opportunity to make art with colleagues while building the power of our working group and our union! You’ll have the opportunity to tell your story by designing and decorating an 8 x 8-inch square of canvas that will be incorporated into our larger banner. Together, this mosaic will represent the scope of our experiences, lessons learned, worldview, and other aspects of our personal narratives. No past art experience or skills necessary – come as you are and we’ll support you!

Dinner will be provided.

RSVP: ART BUILD

More than 350 members and allies have now been trained to participate with the PSC in supporting immigrants in the courtrooms. With 15 – 25 people ordinarily attending each week, we have made more than 850 discrete visits since May. Please join your fellow PSC members to bear witness and support immigrants who are called to the courts at 26 Federal Plaza. Spanish speakers are especially helpful. Meet any Friday at 7:30 AM at 319 Broadway, across the street from 26 Federal Plaza. PSC training is required to participate and a refresher is strongly recommended if you were trained more than two months ago. The next zoom training will be held on Thursday, March, 19th at 6:30PM. RSVP here.

Sign up here to learn more about the Immigrant Solidarity campus and community work.

Register here for the Zoom meeting link.

All faculty and staff are welcome to attend an open meeting of the CUNY Alliance to Defend Higher Education on February 23rd to discuss their work so far and shape the organization’s mission going forward. A coalition of CUNY faculty and staff organized in response to federal attacks on higher education, CADHE is campaigning to promote collaboration for mutual defense across the academy, counter misinformation about CUNY, engage with elected officials, and defend academic freedom.

Register here to get the Zoom link and click here to download a flyer.

Governing through fear and intimidation is the opposite of democracy. While families are crushed by the rising costs of groceries, housing and healthcare, the administration has supercharged funding for ICE to terrorize our communities. In response to the Trump administration’s escalated, violent attacks on everyday Americans in Minnesota and nationwide, The No Kings Coalition has called for our next lawful mass mobilization on March 28.

The PSC will begin registration for the New York City mobilization as soon as details become available. For now, save the date in your calendar and make a plan to bring friends, family and colleagues along with the PSC contingent.