Now is the moment to increase the pressure for fair taxes!
After months of organizing and advocacy by a coalition of unions including the PSC, Governor Cuomo has finally shifted his position on new taxes to raise revenue. For the first time, the governor has acknowledged that new taxes on the ultra-rich and billionaires could be part of the solution to New York’s massive budget deficit. Send a letter right now urging Governor Cuomo to increase taxes on the ultra-rich. Send the letter to tell Governor Cuomo that we will no longer allow the budget to be balanced on our backs and the backs of CUNY students. Tell him to stop protecting the ultra-rich and ensure that they pay their fair share. Tell him that the way to balance the budget is do what New York governors did in previous economic disasters: make sure that billionaires and the ultra-rich pay their share to fund essential services, including higher education.
RSVP to March with the PSC
The PSC is a proud cosponsor of the March for Climate Justice Through Racial Justice on Sunday, September 20, the first day of Climate Week 2020. This is an in-person event; masks are required. The union will share opportunities for virtual or social media participation in the day’s action as they become available. PSC marchers will gather at Columbus Circle at the North West Corner of 60th Street and Broadway; step off will be at 1 PM. In organizing Climate Week, the coalition seeks to prioritize the voices of frontline communities, Black, Brown, Indigenous Peoples, working people and youth. We cannot achieve climate justice without racial justice. That work starts with centering the needs of those who suffer disproportionately from the environmental degradation caused by fossil fuels and climate change. It continues with mobilizing behind a clear set of demands for climate justice and racial justice. RSVP here to march with the PSC.
Sign Up to Phone-Bank Thursday, September 16
Join the PSC as we kick off phone banking for what is arguably the most important Presidential campaign in our lifetime. Tuesday, September 15 from 5:00-8:30 PM, PSC volunteers will join AFT – remotely – to call voters in swing states and urge them to vote for Joe Biden a Kamala Harris. The evening will start with a brief training lead by the AFT to go over how to use the phone-banking system and then we will start making calls. Register here and the Zoom link will be forwarded to you.
Support A New Deal for CUNY!
CUNY Rising, an alliance of workers, students and communities fighting for free and quality college education, has launched a campaign to win a New Deal for CUNY. The soon-to-be-introduced #NewDeal4CUNY legislation reimagines public investment in CUNY, New York’s greatest source of opportunity and educational justice, at a time when inequalities of our systems have been laid bare by the COVID crisis. It calls for the return of free tuition at CUNY and a fully funded university with adequate staffing, robust student counseling and advisement, and safe, modern facilities. Add your name in support of the New Deal for CUNY and urge your friends and colleagues to do the same.
Be Counted. Fill out the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census has been undermined by the Coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration, but it is still ongoing. Save a census worker a trip to your door by filling out the Census online, and help spread the word about the Census so our state can have the funding it needs and congressional representation it deserves. New York State receives roughly $121 billion per year from programs guided by the federal census. Much of that money goes to benefit the people of New York City. Yet only 64% of NYC residents self responded to the census in 2010. So far in 2020, the self-response rate in NYC is only 59%. Billions of dollars are on the line. If participation in the Census falls, it will mean less funding for hospitals and medical assistance, highways, Pell grants, housing, education, and so much more. Do your part and be counted. Click here to fill out the online census and urge your family, friends and students to be counted as well.
