PSC in Solidarity with Wisconsin Unions
On February 17th the PSC’s Delegate Assembly voted unanimously to endorse a statement of solidarity with Wisconsin trade unionists. President Barbara Bowen has traveled to Wisconsin, as part of an American Federation of Teachers (AFT ) team, to support Wisconsin unionist in their struggle to maintain collective bargaining rights. President Bowen met with the Teaching Assistants from the University of Wisconsin who are occupying the Capitol building and delivered solidarity greetings from the PSC. At the request of AFT affiliates working in Wisconsin, PSC Chapter Chairs and Delegates are busy planning small, creative solidarity actions on their campuses. Contact your chapter chair to get involved. To stay abreast of new developments in Wisconsin, visit the PSC website for links to latest news, videos and events.
Members Take Action to Support Senior and Community College Budgets
Take a moment right now to send an Act Now letter to your state legislators urging them to oppose cuts to CUNY’s senior and community colleges and press for greater state investment in public higher education. Send the letter via the PSC website.
Students, faculty and staff can learn more about the proposed City and State cuts, and how to fight them, at a budget briefing and advocacy training hosted by the PSC on Saturday, February 26 from 9:30am – 4:00pm, at the PSC offices at 61 Broadway. Please share the flier with your students and colleagues. To sign up, contact Amanda Magalhaes (212-354-1252 ext 221).
The next member-lobbying opportunity in Albany will be Monday and Tuesday, March 7-8. After that, PSC, the New York Public Interest Research Group, University Student Senate and United University Professions will cosponsor a special Student-Faculty Higher Education Action Day in Albany on Tuesday, March 15. Other grassroots advocacy events will be held in Albany on March 21-22 and May 9-10. Members will also meet face-to-face with their City Council members on May 4th. To sign up for Albany legislator visits and/or City Council visits, contact Amanda Magalhaes (212-354-1252 ext 221).
Bloomberg’s Budget Cuts to CUNY are Unconscionable
Mayor Bloomberg’s just-released Preliminary Budget would cut approximately $35 million, year-over-year, from CUNY’s community colleges; including zeroing out City-Council-provided funding for Vallone Scholarships, the Black Male Initiative and other CUNY programs – despite a $2 billion increase in expected tax revenue. PSC President Bowen called the proposed cuts “unconscionable” and PSC First Vice-President Steve London pledged to “bring [PSC’s] message to the Council in even larger numbers” in the PSC’s response to the Mayor’s budget.
Defending the Social Safety Net
If you have a story about how Social Security benefits have made your life –or your family member’s life—more secure, the PSC’s Defend the Social Safety Net campaign wants to hear from you. Please click here for a form to write and submit your testimony (and here to find out more about the Defend the Social Safety Net campaign).
AFT Summer Volunteer Program
The AFT has put out an urgent call for volunteers to help union locals in the South organize their back-to-school union building campaigns. Sign up now to spend two weeks this summer working with your AFT colleagues on this crucial recruiting drive in states with no agency-fee laws. PSC members have helped out on this campaign in the past and found it very rewarding. Visit the AFT’s website for more information.
Contract/Budget Meetings Begin
About 70 New York City College of Technology PSC members attended the first of a series of chapter meetings on the contract and the budget. The PSC officers and the negotiating team are organizing the special meetings at every chapter to mobilize members and ensure that PSC’s budget and the contract campaigns are thoroughly intertwined. The two campaigns are linked because the political and economic conditions that we face will influence our demands and the demands of management throughout the negotiations. The College Lab Technicians (CLTs) chapter will hold their budget/contract meeting this Thursday, February 24 at 6:30pm at the PSC office at 61 Broadway. A full schedule of chapter budget/contract meetings is posted on the PSC website.
Watch and Share the Research Foundation Worker’s Video, Then Send a Message
CUNY Research Foundation (RF) workers share their stories about the working at the RF and our contract fight on this new video. Take a look, then please post it on Facebook and Twitter and/or email the link to your colleagues. After watching the video, please email RF President Richard Rothbard and CUNY Chancellor/RF Chairman Matthew Goldstein. Tell them that RF workers deserve a fair contract now.
