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This Week in the PSC

This Week in the PSC (02.11.15): PSC & CUNY to Albany: Fund A Contract with Raises!

Feb 12, 2015

Keep Pressure on CUNY for a Contract Offer

Sign Up to Testify or Leaflet at the Board of Trustees Brooklyn Borough Hearing, Tues., Feb 17

Your next chance to show collective support for the union’s contract demands is Tues., Feb. 17, when the CUNY Board holds a public hearing in the Courtroom at Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, at 5:00 PM. Be there to testify, or just come in support of a loud and visible union presence. We’ll be in the room and outside it distributing fliers to the public. If you sent an email to the Chancellor as part of last week’s Virtual Mass Action, reading that email aloud would make for a powerful testimonial. Please let us know if you plan to attend as a speaker or a leafletter. Speakers must pre-register by 5:00 PM this Fri., Feb. 13; we will help you to sign up. Send a message to [email protected] to tell us you’ll be there, and let us know if you plan to testify and need to be registered.

PSC & CUNY to Albany: Fund A Contract with Raises!

Review PSC’s State Budget Testimony and Sign Up to Lobby

PSC President Barbara Bowen and CUNY Chancellor J.B. Milliken both testified about the need for Albany to fund a PSC-CUNY Contract with retroactive raises at a State budget hearing held yesterday in Albany. The union and management also urged the Legislature to fund “mandatory costs” for CUNY, which were not funded in the Governor’s Executive Budget plan for 2015-16. The unfunded mandatory costs from CUNY’s budget request include projected cost increases for energy, rent, fringe benefits and contractual salary step increases. CUNY’s need to hire new full-time faculty and support for the NYS Dream Act were also points of agreement between the two testimonies. The PSC also testified against the governor’s ill-conceived plan for performance budgeting and unwarranted intrusions in faculty governance and teacher preparation programs. Read the union’s testimony and CUNY’s testimony. Download a factsheet about CUNY’s unfunded mandatory costs called Keep Albany’s Promise. Sign up to lobby in support of the PSC’s State budget platform at lobby days in Albany scheduled for Wed. and Thurs., Feb 25-26 and Mon. and Tues., Mar. 2-3.

Last Chance to Sign the Contract Petition

Add Your Name by the Feb. 17 Deadline

If you need a raise, your name should be on the contract petition! Nearly 10,000 CUNY faculty and staff have signed the contract petition to demand action on our contract by the City and State. It will remain open for signatures until Tues., Feb. 17 so that everyone will have a chance to sign before it is presented publicly. Sign here to show that you are serious about a new contract. And be ready to take part when union members present the petition at a public event.

BlueCross Records Hacked

Don’t respond to calls or emails claiming to be from BlueCross. Empire Blue Cross, which provides hospital benefits to many current and former CUNY employees, was affected by the recent data breach that you’ve probably read about in the news. Hackers were able to breach a database that contained as many as 80 million records of current and former customers. Those records may include information on Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, email and employment. The PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund has been notified that phone and email contact has been initiated in an attempt to fraudulently obtain credit card and other information from affected members. Read this notice posted on the PSC-CUNY Welfare Fund website for more information.

Your Help Grading the Student Course Evaluation

Many CUNY colleges have been changing how student course evaluations are administered, moving from paper to online. Some faculty say that as a result they see a drop in the number of students who take the time to complete an evaluation. And then the results from some evaluations, according to recent reports, reveal biases in how faculty are perceived. Clarion is working on a story on student course evaluations, and we want to hear your thoughts. Please take a few minutes to share your take on student course evaluations with us via this webform.

Labor Goes to the Movies Presents Walkabout—Fri., Feb. 13

The PSC will be unable to show The Road Warrior as part of this year’s Labor Goes to the Movies series. The following substitute film will be screened this Fri., Feb. 13 in the PSC Union Hall (61 Broadway, 16th floor):

Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
A journey into indigenous culture in Australia, where young men go through a “walkabout” as a rite of passage into adulthood. Two young Anglo siblings lost in the outback encounter a boy on walkabout. An intriguing look at the meeting of two cultures.

Carolyn Strachan, Hunter College, an Australian filmmaker, director of the acclaimed “Two Laws” will lead a discussion of the film.


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Protest the CUNY Trustees Hearing on October 21 at John Jay College.