PSC Members Hold CUNY Management and Trustees to Account for Pay Delay
Dozens of CUNY faculty and staff testified at a hearing of CUNY Board of Trustees on September 19 about the effects of CUNY management’s failure to act with urgency to pay our raises. Chancellor Milliken and several Board members heard full-time and adjunct faculty, HEOs and CLTs recount stories of financial and housing struggles, delayed medical care and many other hardships. Students there to testify on other topics were moved to speak up for the faculty and staff. Audio of the full hearing is available here. Audio of PSC members’ individual testimony will be posted soon on the union’s website.
Fight For $15 Presidential Debate Protest—Mon., Sept. 26
The first presidential debate is September 26 at Hofstra University. The Fight for $15 is mobilizing for a massive rally outside the debate to tell the candidates that low-wage and exploited workers won’t be ignored any longer. Sixty-four million working people in this country are paid less than $15 an hour. Forty percent of American workers now have jobs subject to some form of contingency. Exploited workers in the service industry and academia and everywhere in between make a powerful voting bloc. September 26 is a chance for them to say to the next president: If you want our vote, stand up for what we need.
The rally will take place 6-7:30 PM. The main bus departure location will be in front of the 32BJ building (25 W. 18th St., Manhattan). Heavy traffic is anticipated, so the meet-up time for the buses is 2:30 PM. PSC members can sign up for a seat on a bus and RSVP for the rally here. A union organizer will contact you with more details. Here’s a flyer to help spread the word.
NYS Legislative Primary Results
Thanks to boots-on-the-ground support from PSC members and our colleagues at NYSUT, K-16 public education allies in the state legislature like Senator Gustavo Rivera and Assembly Members Pam Harris and Latrice Walker won their primaries in September. The victories came despite the incumbents being outspent 6:1 by New York’s pro-school-voucher Super PAC. In New York City, NYSUT/PSC-endorsed Senate candidate Robert Jackson narrowly lost in a tight three-way race, earning 29.72 % percent of the vote. Paul Newell, whom we also endorsed, lost the primary to represent Assembly District 65 in lower Manhattan. Click here to see all the primary results.
Help to Get Out the Vote for the General Election on November 8
PSC members made thousands of calls to help pro-CUNY, pro-labor candidates win in the primaries. We will do thousands more calls and take part in labor walks to win the White House and reshape the State Senate. Thank you to the volunteers who made calls and contributed to these victories. Phone banks are scheduled every Wednesday evening between now and the November 8 General Election and other GOTV opportunities are soon to be announced. PSC members can sign up here.
Take the NYSUT Pledge to Vote!
At a time when the richest, most powerful corporate special interests in the nation have joined forces to destroy unions, to privatize public services for their own profit, and to disenfranchise and disempower working people for their own gain VOTING is an important way to fight back to defend our rights, our profession, and our future. Click here to stand up to defend unions and our profession by pledging to vote this year.
Walk for Equity in School Funding, Oct. 2-11
October 10 is the 10-year anniversary of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision, which ruled that the state is systemically underfunding Black, Latino, and low-income students in many districts across New York. But Albany isn’t providing the court-ordered funding that many school districts need, and students are still suffering from systemic neglect. The Alliance for Quality Education is walking 150 miles to Albany to mark the anniversary and demand that NYS fully fund education in every district in New York. The CUNY Rising Alliance is supporting the effort, and you can too, by walking the NYC leg of the journey or attending the kick-off event at City Hall, Tues., Oct. 2 at 10 AM. Click here to sign up with AQE and to see the full schedule and route of the walk. Follow #EdWalk on social media to stay up to date.
Visit the online calendar for locations and more information
Fight for $15 Presidential Debate Protest, Sept 26, 6:00pm
LaGuardia CC Chapter Meeting, Sept 27, 3:30pm
LaGuardia CC Informational Picket, Sept 28, 12:00pm
Queensborough CC Chapter Meeting, Sept 28, 12:30pm
Kingsborough CC Chapter Meeting, Sept 28, 3:00pm
Lehman College Chapter Meeting, Sept 28, 3:30pm
Bronx CC Meeting, Sept 29 12:00pm
NYCCT Chapter Meeting, Sept 29, 12:30pm
Hunter College HEO Meeting, Sept 29, 12:30pm
Academic Freedom Committee, Sep 29, 4:00pm
York College Chapter meeting, Sept 30, 12:00pm
