Pension Improvements this Week | Make it Count this Midterm Election

Improvements to pensions for most PSC members went into effect Thursday, October 1st, thanks to a multi-year campaign supported by the PSC and our statewide affiliate, NYSUT. Read more about it in Clarion.

Tier 6 applies to everyone hired since April 1, 2012 – almost 60% of full-time faculty and staff, and many adjuncts. CUNY employees in Tier 6 of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS), the defined-benefit traditional pension plan, can now retire without penalty starting at age 58 (after 30 years service). TRS enrollees and CUNY employees in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP), a 401(a) defined-contribution plan sponsored by Teachers’ Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), will see a significant reduction in their out-of-pocket employee contributions, with a 1% increase in state contributions for TIAA retirement plans.

Everyone earning more than $45,000 will contribute less toward their pensions starting Oct 1, with the largest reductions going to members earning $55-75k (from 4.5% of salary to 3%) and $75-100k (from 5.7% to 4%). Employees with salaries between $100-125k receive a reduction from 6% of salary to 5.25%. The savings will vary based on title and salary step. For example, an Assistant Professor on the penultimate step would see a reduction in mandatory contributions of almost $800. A Lecturer on the same step would save over $1,700, and an assistant to HEO on that step would save over $1,600.

Last week, the PSC and CUNY announced the launch of the HEO Leadership and Career Development Pilot Program, a new professional development opportunity designed to support employee growth, skill-building, leadership readiness, and future advancement within CUNY. The program is being offered through the PSC HEO-CLT Professional Development Fund at no cost to participants.

The pilot program will be facilitated by Org-ology and will provide development opportunities tailored to employees at each HEO-series level. Eighty participants CUNY-wide will be selected across four program levels for Assistant to HEO, HEO Assistant, HEO Associate, and HEO Officer. Supervisors may nominate eligible employees. The deadline to submit nominations is Wednesday, October 7. Click here for guidelines for the new program.

The stakes of this fall’s elections couldn’t be higher. That’s why we’re stepping up as a union to MAKE IT COUNT. Sign up below to get involved in the PSC’s midterm mobilization and election defense efforts. Connect with your colleagues and build labor power to win big for working people, democracy, and the needs of our students and communities.

We are organizing to elect/re-elect our endorsed CUNY champions and take back seats from anti-union representatives who are trying to undermine the legitimacy of our elections. We are also uniting with neighbors in NYC and allies across the country to protect our democracy.

Get Out the Vote

PSC members will be in Westchester’s Congressional District 17 this Saturday, October 3 and on Saturday, October 17 to help elect Cait Conley and oust Trump ally Mike Lawler. It’s all hands on deck in this district that could decide control of the House, so please sign up with your personal email address here to join us on Saturday, October 17th. A van will leave from the PSC office at 25 Broadway at 8:30 AM. We’ll meet local residents in time to start door knocking at 10:00 AM and will depart for the city around 12:00 each day.

Sign up for phone banks every week until the election and volunteer for all or some of the last day of early voting, Sunday, November 1st or for Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd.

• Click here for the list of events with sign-up links.
• Click here to tell us you’ll help build excitement and momentum for our campaign to build union power by wearing red at work on Tuesday October 27, a week before Election Day.

Election Protection

The PSC joined elected officials, Hands Off NYC, Common Cause NY, and more than a dozen other City and State-based organizations to launch the “Hands Off Our Vote!” campaign at a press conference held Thursday at the Farley Post Office in Manhattan. The growing coalition announced plans to activate New Yorkers to vote and, following the election, organize them to protect the results. PSC President James Davis spoke at the event.

“Generations of workers have fought and bled for the right to have their vote count. Our members and all the city’s workers understand the gravity of this moment for American democracy… Along with our labor siblings around the state, the city, and the whole country, we are prepared to ensure that voters know their rights, that they feel safe going to the polls, and that whatever the outcome, our elections remain fair and free,” Davis said. Click here for a video of his full statement on the PSC’s Instagram.

Defending Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Democracy

Rally & Press Conference
Thursday, October 15, 3:00-4:30 PM

We’ll be back at the Farley Post Office on October 15th to put the combined power of NYC’s labor movement to work to ensure that our voices are heard and that our votes are protected. Click here to let us know you’ll be there with the PSC on the steps of the post office (421 8TH Ave). It’s critical for the labor movement to step up in this perilous moment.

RSVP: DEFENDING OUR VOTE, 10/15

Hands Off Our Vote

Saturday, Nov 7, Time and Location TBD

Hands Off NYC is calling for a mass mobilization the Saturday after the election to demand accurate vote counts and defend the results of the midterm elections. Every vote must be counted, because every vote counts. Every PSC member who signs up on the general Election 2026: Make it Count action link will be on-call to join us in the streets to defend the election if the need arises. We’ll post more details about the November 7th action as they become available and will update members about the threats to our votes as they become apparent.

SAVE THE DATE, NOV 7

Race, the Ballot, and the Fight for Democracy

On September 28 the Roosevelt House Public Policy Program at Hunter College hosted “Race, the Ballot, and the Fight for Democracy,” a discussion featuring political historian Leah Wright Rigueur and civil rights attorney, Medgar Evers instructor, and PSC-CUNY member Lurie Daniel-Favor. The discussion centered on the racialized history of vote suppression and election fraud claims going back to the Reconstruction era, and the ways in which racism continues to be both a cause and a consequence of efforts to restrict the franchise.

The event capped off an afternoon of workshops for CUNY students. The first, led by CUNY Rising Alliance Coordinator Zaakirah Rahman and NYPIRG organizer Emma Turgeson, focused on election registration and GOTV. The second, led by Hae-Lin Choi from Hands Off NYC, centered on what students could do to defend against attempts to subvert elections in the midterms.

The PSC Adjunct-CET Professional Development Fund is hosting a hybrid workshop to raise awareness of the funds available to teaching adjuncts and continuing education teachers. Learn about the fund’s history and eligibility requirements and hear from awardees across disciplines about their experience applying, how they used the grant, and its impact on their teaching and students.

RSVP here to join the event on Zoom, beginning at 6:30pm, or use the form linked here to RSVP to join in-person at the PSU Union Hall, with dinner served beginning at 6pm.

The PSC’s Teacher Education Working Group invites teacher educators throughout CUNY to participate in our second annual research forum. The theme of this year’s conference is “Educator Power: Resistance, Justice, Healing.” There is no cost to attend this day-long forum at the PSC Union Hall (25 Broadway, 15th Floor). Join us to demand better, build community, and make space to heal. All educators are welcome. Coffee, lunch and afternoon refreshments provided. RSVP with this form to register for the event and download this flier to share with your colleagues in teacher education.

The BIPOC Working Group was created to build community, foster connections, and create support structures for underrepresented faculty and staff in the Professional Staff Congress and across CUNY campuses.

Our contract shapes so much of our working lives: our salaries, workload, sense of security, evaluations, reappointments, and promotions. Join BIPOC colleagues from across all titles for a conversation on how it affects us. Click here to register for a hybrid town hall to discuss the next contract campaign and to build connections and community with other PSC members of color.

RSVP: BIPOC CONTRACT TOWN HALL

Court Support Every Friday Morning

If you have been through the PSC’s online court support training, please join with fellow union 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 Pret, 7:30 AM at 319 Broadway, across the street from 26 Federal Plaza.